Hot upstairs rooms and a climbing power bill usually start in the attic. We seal the gaps, then lay insulation evenly to the edges.
Attic insulation in Chico, CA means we close the air leaks in your attic floor first and then lay new insulation evenly over them, so the air you pay to heat and cool stays in the rooms below instead of slipping up into the attic.
Most calls start with something you can feel. The upstairs is hot by afternoon, the room over the garage never matches the rest of the house, or the power bill keeps creeping up. Pop the hatch and you'll often find a few inches of old insulation, packed flat or pushed aside, with gaps around pipes, wires and the hatch letting air straight through.
The price moves with the size of your attic, how much insulation is up there already, and whether the old layer is clean enough to stay or soaked and full of droppings and has to come out first. A cramped attic and a lot of gaps to close add work too. Foam costs more than loose fill, so the material matters as well.
The schedule turns mostly on what I find up there. If something has to be fixed by another trade before we cover it, that comes first, and some jobs need a permit. Once I've been in the attic, the written estimate lays out the work, anything that has to happen first, and the price.
Adding insulation looks simple, and that's exactly why it gets rushed. These are the mistakes we run into most in attics around Chico, and what our crew does instead.
New insulation laid over old material that got soaked or filled with droppings just hides the problem, and the dampness and smell stay with you. When the old layer is ruined, it comes out before anything new goes in. When it's dry and clean, we leave it and build on top, which keeps your cost down.
The vents along your eaves are how the attic breathes. Pile insulation over them and the attic holds moisture, which can show up later as damp or stained framing. We keep a clear path for air at the eaves so the new layer can go deep without shutting off that airflow.
It's easy to pile insulation deep in the middle of the attic where there's headroom and come up short where the roof gets low. That's backward, because the edges sit right over your outside walls. Our installers work the low corners first, and I check the depth across the whole floor before we finish.
Here's how an attic job runs from your first call to the final walkthrough, and who you'll be dealing with at each step along the way.
Call (530) 399-1513 or use the form on this page and tell us what you're noticing, like a hot bedroom or a high bill. We'll set a time for me to come out.
I go up into the attic myself, see what's there and note anything that has to be fixed first. You get a written estimate that covers the prep, the sealing, the insulation and the price.
If a permit is needed, we get it before work starts, and some simple jobs in Chico get one on the first visit to the city's permit counter. Then our crew lead and installers seal the gaps and lay the insulation.
I check the work before we call it finished. Then we walk you through what we sealed, how deep the new layer runs and anything we noticed that you should keep an eye on.
Before any new insulation goes in, I check the attic for roof leaks, fans venting into the attic instead of outside, old wiring and vermiculite. Each one gets worse, or harder to reach, once it's buried under a fresh layer. If one of them needs a roofer or an electrician first, I'll tell you and we'll wait rather than install over it.
Next comes air sealing, closing the gaps around pipes, wires, can lights and the hatch, because insulation can't stop a draft on its own. With those shut, we lay the new layer, usually blown-in insulation, loose fill blown through a hose so it settles into corners and around the framing. We keep it clear of hot flues and any lights that need space around them.
Sometimes the attic is only part of the story, and the cold floors or drafty rooms are coming from somewhere else too. Our home insulation work looks at the whole house the same way, starting with what's already there and what needs fixing first.
We close the gaps in the attic floor, then add loose fill over what's there if it's dry and clean. It's the cheaper route, and for most attics it's the right one.
Foam goes on the underside of the roof and seals air while it insulates. It costs more, and it's the one I'd point you toward when your ductwork lives up in the attic.
We reply to calls and messages within one business day to set a time. I come out, look over your attic, note anything that has to be fixed first and write up a free estimate, with no obligation to go ahead.
(530) 399-1513The Chico Building Division issues permits for alterations and repairs to houses, and its list names jobs like decks and patio covers but not attic insulation. That doesn't settle whether your job needs one, so the city is the place to ask, and the city's building FAQs are a good start. If a permit is needed, we handle the application and inspection and tell you which office covers your address.
Anyone pulling a Chico permit for the first time needs a City of Chico business license number and a California contractor's license number. The state lets someone without a contractor's license take small jobs up to $1,000, but only for work that needs no permit, done by a person with nobody working for them on the job. California's energy standards also have a provision that applies whenever insulation goes into an existing attic.
Around Chico we see a lot of older houses with a few inches of flattened insulation, rooms over garages that never keep up, and single-story homes with ductwork running through the attic. We do the same careful attic work in Durham, Oroville and the other cities around Chico.
I'm the one who climbs into your attic and writes the estimate, so the person pricing the job is the person who saw the problem. I grew up on a farm where you fixed things right the first time, learned insulation on other contractors' crews, and have been in business since 2020. Our crew lead and installers do the work, and I check it before we're done.
We're licensed and insured. Every job comes with satisfaction guaranteed on every job, and that starts with doing the work in the right order. When you're ready, call (530) 399-1513 or send us a message and we'll set a time for me to come take a look.
If your attic or walls just need more depth over a clean, dry layer, loose fill is usually the simplest way to add it.
When the drafts and cold floors aren't only coming from the attic, a look at the whole house shows where the rest of the heat is going.
We're based in Chico and work in the cities around it. These are the ones with their own page, not the only places we go, so if yours isn't listed, give us a call and ask.
Across the US, installing blown-in attic insulation usually costs about $4 to $7.50 per square foot. That's a national range for the installed insulation, so treat it as a rough guide rather than a quote for your house. I'll give you your own figure in the written estimate after I've been up in your attic.
Yes. Federal guidance for existing vented attics is to seal every opening in the attic floor first and add insulation after, and sealing also helps keep moisture problems out of the attic. It's fair to ask that sealing come first in any quote you get, and in ours it does.
Leave it alone. The EPA advises homeowners to assume vermiculite may be contaminated with asbestos and recommends leaving it undisturbed. Vermiculite usually looks like small, light, grayish brown or gold pebbles. If I find it during the attic check, we don't start the job, and we talk through a plan that follows that advice.
It comes down to what's up there, so I don't give you a time until I've seen it. A large attic, an old layer that has to come out first or a lot of gaps to seal all add to it. The estimate tells you what we'll do and in what order, and we set the start day with you.
Usually not for loose fill, since the work happens up in the attic and you can stay home. Spray foam is different, because the foam maker sets a re-entry time, the wait before you, the kids and the pets can come back inside. We'll tell you that ahead of time so you can plan around it.
Call (530) 399-1513 or use the form, and if you know your attic's size or have spotted vermiculite, a roof leak or a fan venting into the attic, mention it so I know what to look for when I come out.
