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3 Reasons To Make Re-Insulating Your Attic Your Next Major Project

30 November 2022

Floyd Carroll

Did you spend a lot of time considering how your attic affects your home's efficiency and comfort? If you own a relatively new home, there's a good chance your attic already has decent or at least acceptable insulation. However, owners of older homes are rarely so lucky. Depending on the age of your house, you may have insufficient attic insulation or even none at all.

Fortunately, your attic is one of the few areas in your home where adding new insulation is generally a relatively straightforward project that should take a professional too long to complete. If you haven't thought about attic insulation as an option to improve your home, it's well worth considering these three reasons to make it your next project.

1. You May Have Unknown Health Hazards

If you don't use your attic frequently, you may not know the potential for lurking health hazards above your head. Many older attics may contain numerous vulnerabilities that provide easy access for pests such as mice, squirrels, insects, or even birds. While these pests are often noisy, it's still easy for them to go unnoticed in unused spaces. There may have been infestations before you purchased the house.

Unfortunately, infestations such as these can cause harm long after the pests are gone. Droppings can contain harmful pathogens which can make their way into the occupied parts of your home. If your attic contains very old insulation that shows signs of pest damage, it's best to pull it all out and replace it with new material.

2. You May Not Be up to Code

Building codes change constantly, and modern construction regulations typically require homes to be much more energy efficient than in the past. In most cases, these codes stipulate minimum R-values for home insulation in areas such as the walls, basement, attic, and so on. If you have a very old home, it's likely that your attic insulation does not meet current code requirements.

The good news is that you usually only need to worry about original code requirements when selling your home, but major renovations are another story. If your attic insulation doesn't meet current code requirements, you'll likely need to bring it up to code when performing any substantial remodeling project. Upgrading your insulation now will save you the hassle of performing this work in the future.

3. You're Losing Money

Of course, the best reason to upgrade your insulation is that a poorly insulated attic costs you money daily! Modern codes require more insulation for a good reason. More insulation in your attic helps tighten up your home's building envelope, ensuring that conditioned air remains in habitable spaces. Old insulation allows air-conditioned or heated air to escape into the environment.

At a minimum, it's worth consulting an experienced contractor to inspect your current insulation and make recommendations. You may find that this simple upgrade will be an easy and effective way to bring down your utility, improve your home's air quality, and make it much easier to improve or sell your home in the future.

To learn more, contact a local attic insulation replacement service today.

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