Hot upstairs, drafty rooms, a power bill that keeps climbing? We spray open-cell foam where it fits and seal the leaks behind them.
Open-cell foam insulation is a soft spray foam that stops air leaks right where it lands, and in Chico, CA we spray it on attic rooflines, walls and the room over the garage. It doesn't block moisture vapor, so it isn't the answer for every space.
Most people call us about a hot upstairs, a drafty bedroom or a power bill that keeps creeping up. Those usually come down to air leaking through gaps in the attic and walls, and open-cell foam is good at closing them because it seals while it insulates. It's the softer, lighter foam, though, so it isn't the right pick everywhere, and I'd rather tell you that up front.
The price moves with how many square feet we spray, how thick it goes, whether old insulation has to come out first and how hard the space is to reach. The job also needs a fire-rated covering over the foam, and that's part of the cost. The schedule mostly turns on what has to happen before we spray. I give you your own figure after I've seen the space.
Most foam jobs that go wrong were set up wrong before anyone sprayed. These are the things I check first, because they decide whether foam is the right call and how we go about it.
I measure how many inches you already have and look at what shape it's in, and the age of the house tells me what to expect. If the old insulation was soaked or full of droppings, it needs insulation removal first, because foam sprayed over a mess keeps the problem in your house.
Check whether your heating and cooling ducts run through the attic. Federal research says the energy for heating and cooling typically goes up about 10% when the ducts are up there, and that's the case where foaming the roofline to bring them inside the house usually earns its higher price.
Can lights, plumbing and wiring holes and the attic hatch are where most drafts start. Foam seals what it touches, so we find every opening before we spray, because a gap we miss is a gap your insulation has to fight from then on.
The edges, where the roof comes down to meet the walls, are tight and hard to reach, so they're the spots that get shorted. Thick in the middle and thin at the edges is backward, so our crew works those corners carefully and I look at them before we're done.
Here's how a foam job runs from the first call to the walk-through, and who you'll be dealing with at each step. I'm there at the start and again at the end.
Call (530) 399-1513 or send a message through the form, and we'll get back to you to set a time. Tell us which rooms bother you most, so I know where to start looking.
I look over the attic, walls or crawl space, note anything that has to be fixed first and write up an estimate. If foam isn't the right fit for your space, I'll say so then.
Our crew lead and installers do the work. You stay out of the sprayed space until its re-entry time, the point when it's safe to come back in, and I give you that time for the exact product we use.
Before we call it finished, I check the work myself, edges and gaps included. Then we walk you through what we did, so you know what went into your attic or walls and where.
Open-cell foam stops air well, but moisture vapor passes through it, so I'm honest about whether it fits your space before we price anything. Under a roofline or inside walls it's often a good match. In a crawl space we'll usually talk about a crawl space vapor barrier instead, a sheet laid over the ground under the house, along with insulation that suits the space.
Federal guidance says foam on the inside of a house should be covered by a fire-rated material, such as gypsum board, the same drywall that's on your walls. We plan that covering into the job from the start, so it's in your estimate instead of showing up as a surprise once the foam is up. It's also part of why foam costs more than blown-in insulation, loose fill blown through a hose.
I'd also rather wait than spray over something we should have caught. If the roof leaks or there's wiring that needs an electrician, that gets fixed first, and I'll tell you so plainly. For shops, offices and other buildings that aren't homes, our commercial insulation work follows the same order.
Foam costs more, but it seals air while it insulates and brings the attic inside the house. That's usually worth it when your ducts or heating and cooling equipment live up there.
We close the gaps around lights, pipes and the hatch, then add blown-in insulation over what's there if it's in good shape. With no ducts in the attic, this usually wins on cost, and I'll tell you when it does.
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I come out, look over the space, note anything that has to be fixed first and write up a free estimate on site. There's no obligation to book.
(530) 399-1513Inside city limits, the City of Chico Building Division issues building permits for alterations and repairs to houses. Its published list names work like decks and patio covers, not foam insulation, so that list doesn't settle whether your job needs one, and the division is the place to ask. If it does need one, we handle the application and the inspection for you.
Around Chico and in nearby places like Durham and Magalia, most calls we get are about drafty rooms, rising bills or an older house the owner isn't sure about. Older houses often have thin or tired insulation and plenty of gaps, so we check what's there before anyone talks foam, and we do the work the same careful way in every city we serve.
When we foam the roofline, the attic is sealed instead of vented. Federal research says a house in a wildfire zone is less likely to catch from floating embers when it has no soffit vents, the vents under the roof edge, for embers to get in. The State Fire Marshal's map shows the Fire Hazard Severity Zones within the City of Chico.
I'm the one who comes out to look at your job and write the estimate, so you're talking to the person who actually saw the space. Our crew lead and installers do the work, and I check it before we're done. I grew up on my family's farm, where if something broke you fixed it yourself and fixed it right the first time.
I learned insulation on other contractors' crews and started this business in 2020. We're licensed and insured. If you're comparing installers, ask each one which license they carry, because the state licensing board's insulation class is the one written for installing insulation for heat or sound. It's satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
If you're not sure foam is right for your house, that's exactly the visit to book. Call (530) 399-1513 or send us a message, and we'll set a time for me to come out.
If you own a shop, office or rental building, we look at its insulation with the same check-first approach we use on houses.
When the floors feel cold and the ground under the house is bare dirt, a vapor barrier is often the place to start before any insulation goes in.
We're based in Chico and work in the cities around it, including Durham, Oroville, Paradise and Orland. If you don't see your city listed, give us a call and ask.
Across the US, open-cell spray foam insulation usually costs about $1.50 to $2 per square foot. That's a national figure, so your price depends on how much area we spray, any old insulation that has to come out and the fire-rated covering. I'll give you your own number after I've seen the space.
Open-cell is the right pick when you mainly need to stop air leaks, and closed-cell foam is the one to look at when you also need to slow moisture. Open-cell's R-value, how well insulation slows heat, is about 3.6 per inch. Typical closed-cell is about R-6 per inch, rigid, and acts as a vapor retarder, a layer that slows moisture.
Some foam makers recommend waiting 24 hours after spraying before anyone goes back into the space, but the time varies by product. Plan for the kids and pets to stay out for as long as the product we spray calls for, and I'll give you that exact time before we start.
Inside city limits, the City of Chico runs its own building services. Outside them, Butte County serves unincorporated areas such as Durham, Magalia, Forest Ranch and Cohasset. If your job needs a permit, I'll tell you which office covers your address.
The spraying is usually the short part, and the rest of the schedule turns on what has to happen around it. Removing old insulation, a repair another trade has to make first, the fire-rated covering and the re-entry time all add to it. I'll tell you what your schedule turns on once I've seen the space.
Have your address, the area you want sprayed and whether your heating and cooling ducts run through the attic. Clear a path to the attic hatch or crawl space door so I can get in and look, and if you know roughly when the house was built, that helps too.
Call (530) 399-1513 or use the form, and if the cheaper fix is the right one for your house, I'll tell you that at the visit.
