Can You Insulate The Walls Of A Finished Fort Collins Home?
So you just bought a home, and it turns out it doesn’t come with insulation, or the insulation layer is not enough for ideal temperature regulation. This is not uncommon, especially if you are buying an older home where the insulation may be outdated and will need to be replaced. At this point, you should consider adding insulation to exterior walls.
Read on to know how you can insulate the walls of an existing and finished home.
When To Insulate The Walls Of An Existing Home In Colorado
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There are a couple of instances where you need to install insulation into an existing house. You may not be satisfied with the insulation installed in your newly-built home. You may have an older house that has insulation installed, but it is outdated. The right insulation can also increase the value of any property, something to keep in mind if you plan to sell your home down the road.
You may also want to add insulation to increase energy efficiency, improve indoor air quality, and maintain the best indoor temperatures in your house. Thankfully, you can go back and add insulation in these instances for optimum temperature regulation and comfort.
Insulating A Finished House: How Is It Done?
Wood or Drywall Walls
For wood or drywall walls, spray foam insulation is the easiest method. Your insulation contractor will find the studs in the walls, mark them, and drill 2-inch holes near the top of the wall between all the studs.
Insulation is sprayed into the wall cavity through these holes. Spray foam and loose-fill insulation are both good options for this procedure. Your insulation team may advise you to stick with the same type of insulation that is already in use in the house. For example, if you already have loose-fill insulation in the walls, it makes sense to just add in more loose-fill insulation made of fiberglass or cellulose. Loose-fill insulation can be blown in through these holes as easily as spray foam insulation. Once all the insulation is in, the holes are plugged, and that portion is refinished to match the rest of the wall.
Siding Walls
The same method is done if you have siding walls, long panels of wood, or any other material that lines the outside of the house. Your contractor simply removes the siding from the outside, bores holes at the top of the walls, and injects insulation through the walls. Once done, the holes are plugged using wooden plugs, and the siding is replaced. In many cases, this is a more efficient job compared to boring holes through actual walls, and there will be no traces of the process when the siding is back in place.
Brick Walls
Brick walls have natural insulating properties, but these may not be enough for certain temperatures and weather conditions. Adding another layer of insulation is a good idea, especially since you have a couple of options for insulating finished brick walls.
Adding Insulation To Exterior Brick Walls
Insulation is either added to the interior portion or the external walls. For the latter, your contractor will apply insulation to the outside brickwork, which is later covered with a plaster-like layer. You can also opt for cladding once the insulation has been applied, although this will eliminate the nice brickwork effect that you may want to retain in the exterior of your house.
Adding Insulation To Interior Brick Walls
For internal insulation, your contractor can install insulation boards to the interior walls. An alternative is to have a stud wall built over the existing indoor wall and fill this with insulating material.
If you want to retain your beautiful brickwork exterior, you can use spray foam insulation drilled into the mortar. The contractor will drill holes along the mortar joints, the corners where each brick meets the mortar. These holes are drilled along the bottom, middle, and top portions of your wall. Once the insulation is injected, mortar is again injected to plug the holes.
Why You Need to Work with a Professional Fort Collins Insulation Contractor
Once you determine that your house needs insulation or an insulation upgrade, the first step is to call the pros. This is because insulating existing or finished properties are naturally more complicated than adding insulation during the construction phase. Professional teams know how to retrofit insulation into an existing wall and ensure that insulation is applied properly so that it does the work it is supposed to do.
Wall Finishes Require Different Insulation Methods
You also need to deal with different kinds of wall finishes that require different insulation methods. You want to ensure a professional job with installing insulation to avoid the most common problems that come with incorrect installation.
Common problems that can occur if your insulation is not properly installed include:
- drafts in the house
- cold spots in rooms
- moisture in crawl spaces that could lead to molds and mildew
- reduced energy efficiency
- added workload to your HVAC system to keep temperatures warm or cool
- the added cost of a re-do
Aside from different methods required for different kinds of walls and finishes in the house, you will also need specialized equipment to drill or inject insulation in the right places. Otherwise, you can destroy plumbing or electrical work when DIY-ing insulation by yourself.
Conclusion
You can avoid all of these if you start by hiring a professional insulation installation team to handle the job for you. You can rely on professional installation as well as be guaranteed that your home’s new insulation will work well throughout the year. Get in touch with your insulation contractor today.
Adding Insulation To Exterior Walls Fort Collins CO
As mentioned above, when it concerns insulation, consulting with a professional insulation company is the best option. There are a lot of factors to consider when determining the condition of your insulation and what works best for your home.
Ascend Construction specializes in insulation removal and installation, energy conservation, energy audits, whole house fan installations, and more in Fort Collins, Colorado, and the neighboring areas.
Contact Ascend Construction for a free consultation today. We can provide you with practical solutions to address the problem areas in your Fort Collins home. All of our services are affordable and our work is guaranteed. Click here to contact us or click the button below to give Ascend Construction a call. We offer free, no-obligation, in-home consultations.