We experience all four seasons in the DMV, including brutal summers and icy winters. If your home isn’t adequately insulated, you could be wasting hundreds of dollars every year on energy costs. Keeping your home cool and comfortable in the summer and cozy and toasty in the winter is easy when your home is well-insulated.
How to tell if your home is lacking proper insulation:
- Your home doesn’t maintain a consistent temperature from room to room.
- You have cold floors, ceilings, or walls in winter.
- Your energy bills have been much higher than the previous year during the same month.
- Your pipes are freezing.
- Condensation forms on the inside of your home’s windows.
- Ice dams keep forming on your roof after snowstorms.
- Your house was built in or before the 1970s.
When in doubt, call the professionals at Winner Insulation. We’ll assess your home’s insulation, perform an energy audit, and make recommendations for products and services based on our findings. We are here to improve your home’s comfort, reduce your carbon footprint, and provide outstanding service from start to finish.
Ready to call a tried-and-trusted professional? Call Winner Insulation at (800) 955-1976!
Can I Install Insulation Myself?
Even the most experienced DIYer will probably want to leave the insulation installation to the pros. This is because insulation products are treated with fire-retardant chemicals, which means they are chock-full of toxins you do not want on your skin or floating in the air. Professional insulation installers like those at Winner take precautions to protect themselves and the homeowners during the installation process.
Risks of DIY & Poor Insulation Installation
As we mentioned above, DIY installation is not recommended, but you’ll want to ensure the professional you hire does a good job, or you’ll encounter some of the same issues and hazards
Additionally, if the insulation isn’t properly installed (there are gaps, or it’s uneven), you will not experience the energy savings benefits and will have to have it redone.
Overstuffing insulation or trapping moisture behind the walls can lead to the growth of mold and mildew, which can lead to serious health and safety concerns.
Top Insulation Installation Mistakes to Avoid
Gaps in Your Existing Insulation
If your insulation doesn’t cover your entire home, you are leaking air and energy and paying more for utilities than necessary. Here’s how the Winner Insulation Tech will fix the gaps in your home’s insulation:
- Perform an inspection.
- Pick the right insulation material for the space.
- Measure twice and cut once.
- Use loose-fill or spray foam for irregular spaces.
- Overlap and seal your materials to remove gaps.
- Check for cold spots or areas where the insulation is thin.
- Perform a final quality check to make sure the insulation has been properly installed.
Neglecting the Air Seal Before Installing Insulation
This is a big part of pre-installation prep, which we at Winner Insulation take extremely seriously. Here’s what we can do to make sure your home is sealed properly:
- Locate areas prone to air leakage, such as electrical outlets, window and door frames, plumbing fixtures, and gaps in the attic or basement.
- Choose the right sealing materials for the job, which depends on the size of the gap.
- Begin sealing inside your home, then move onto the exterior to ensure your home is airtight.
- We’ll ensure that your ductwork is sealed, using products to help prevent leaks.
- Before we begin insulating, we perform a test to make sure the air seal is working.
Blocking Air Flow
This might sound counterintuitive since we just talked about the vital importance of air sealing, but airflow is important, too. Parts of your home–especially your attic–require proper ventilation to maintain lower moisture levels and steady temperatures. Hire Winner Insulation, and we will:
- Identify your home’s essential vents and mark them so that we can make sure not to cover them with insulation during installation.
- Install baffles or vent chutes between the rafters to promote uninterrupted airflow from the soffit vents to the ridge vent in your attic.
- Make sure your insulation is snug without overstuffing it.
- Keep insulation away from your recessed lighting (to prevent overheating and starting a fire).
- Ensure your bathroom fans, kitchen vents, and dryers vent outside and not into attics or crawl spaces.
Not Using the Right Insulation
Selecting the appropriate insulation isn’t just about warmth but efficiency, longevity, and overall home comfort. Different areas and climates call for specific insulation types, and it’s a balance we understand well. Baltimore–and the entire DMV area–is in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zone 4.
One thing you’ll see mentioned a lot regarding insulation is the R rating. What does that mean? It measures how effective a product is at resisting heat flow. In zone 4, these are the recommended R ratings for insulation products:
- Attics: R38 to R60
- Walls: R13 to R15 for cavity insulation and R5 for insulated sheathing
- Floors: R25 to R30
- Basements: R11 to R15
Here’s how we take great care in selecting the right insulation for your home:
- We begin by assessing your home’s needs, considering your location, home design, and energy goals.
- With a wide selection of insulation materials, from fiberglass to foam, we ensure the one we pick best fits your space.
Why choose Winner Insulation?
Our professional insulation installers are highly trained and skilled in all things insulation. There’s a mix of art and science to it that requires experience and know-how. From protective gear to handling chemicals in spray foam, there are safety considerations at every turn. We prioritize safety, so you don’t have to take risks.
We’re up to date with Baltimore’s code standards, and we’ll make sure to dot the I’s and cross the T’s on your construction project to keep it on track.
Winner Insulation is the DMV’s number one choice for energy-efficient insulation services. Whether you’re a contractor working with military and commercial builders or a homeowner looking to improve your comfort, we’re the ones to call. We are USAF veteran-owned and stand behind every product we install. We specialize in spray foam insulation, a great option for Baltimore-area homes.
Are you ready to let the pros handle your insulation installation? Contact Winner Insulation at (800) 955-1976 for a free estimate today!