Is Your Home Poorly Insulated? How to Tell
It’s finally spring, and warm weather is in the air at last. With more moderate temperatures in the forecast, it can be easy to forget about how you froze all winter long. But if your home is poorly insulated, the reprieve offered by spring won’t last long. Pretty soon, your home will be heating up in the summer sun, and right along with it, your energy bills will be, too.
At Budget Exteriors in Minneapolis, our home remodeling contractors offer a wide range of home improvement services from siding to attic and roof insulation. We’ve put together this guide to help you identify if your home could benefit from an insulation update.
Signs of Poor Insulation Performance
There’s a good chance if your insulation is not up to par, you’ve been noticing signs for a while. It’s all too common for homeowners to accept discomfort and inconvenience caused by poor insulation as a fact of life, but it could be costing you money from roof damage to energy usage. You may be surprised to learn how many ways your insulation can impact your home.
These are some of the more common signs your insulation needs an update:
● Ice Dams in the Winter
If you noticed ice dams at the edge of your roof this past winter, this is caused by heat transfer from within your home due to poor insulation. Snow already on the roof when this happens melts, refreezing at the edge of the roof and creating dams and icicles. Ice dams are disastrous for your roof and gutter system.
● Cold Spots and Drafts
Did last winter find you bundling up inside your own home? If the temperatures from one room to the next in your home were inconsistent or you often felt a cold draft, your insulation needs help. It’s also costing you money on your monthly heating and cooling bills.
● Hot Upper Level
Because heat rises, the heat from a poorly insulated attic can cause the temperature in a home’s upper level to climb, making it miserable during the summer months. If your upper level is too hot, ask your contractor to look at attic insulation and ventilation at the same time.
● Water Infiltration in Your Home
Water leaking into your home is never a good sign. It could mean there’s damage to your roof, but it may also be a sign that your attic insulation needs to be updated. Water damage can lead to mildew, and mildew growth can create health problems for your family. It can also lead to structural rot inside your walls and roof underlayment that could end up costing you significantly down the road.
Choosing the Right Insulation for Your Home
If your home has one or more signs of inefficient insulation, we can update your attic insulation and wall insulation. We recommend Owens Corning ProCat™ insulation for attics and RetroFoam™ for your walls.
Owens ProCat Insulation
Owens ProCat insulation is a loose-fill insulation system with advanced thermal protection for a more comfortable, draft-free home. ProCat is manufactured using a non-corrosive, low-dust formula that is resistant to pests, moisture, and fire. ProCat also comes with a limited lifetime warranty to protect homeowners by ensuring the insulation will maintain its R-value over time.
RetroFoam Insulation
RetroFoam is an injection foam that is non-toxic and odor-free. This foam insulation is a Class One fire-rated tripolymer resin that is designed primarily for use in exterior walls. It’s completely safe for residential use and won’t off-gas any harmful chemicals. We inject RetroFoam™ into your walls from your home’s exterior for a hassle-free installation. This fills your walls completely so there’s no room for drafts or leaks. The result is a home with improved noise levels, better energy efficiency, and allergen and moisture reduction.
RetroFoam creates an airtight seal to prevent pollutants, air, moisture, and allergens out of our home. That airtight seal has a few added benefits as well, including a dramatic reduction in noise pollution as it creates a more quiet space inside of your home. RetroFoam will also pay for itself over time as it reduces your monthly energy costs.
Contact Our Spray Foam Insulation Contractors
Are you paying too much on your monthly energy bills? Is your home drafty or uneven in temperature? It may be time to upgrade your insulation with loose-fill and spray foam insulation solutions from Budget Exteriors.
If you’re tired of outsized heating and cooling bills and you’re ready to live in a more comfortable home, we can help. Contact our team of insulation contractors at Budget Exteriors to get your free insulation estimate. We’ll check out your attic and walls to make recommendations on the best options for your home and budget. Speak to a representative by calling us at 952.887.1613 or contact us online to learn more about roof and attic insulation for your home.