Retrofit insulation in Clarksville TN - an older house that holds its heat

Most calls I get start with one room that won't keep up or a power bill that won't come down, and the attic usually explains it. The price depends on how many inches are already up there, whether the old layer can stay, how many gaps need sealing and whether the walls are part of the job. The schedule depends mostly on what the first look turns up, because anything wet, suspect or wired the old way gets settled before new insulation goes in. I'll give you your own number after I've been up there.

I start in the attic with a flashlight and a tape measure, checking how many inches are up there, whether the insulation is dry and even, and whether anything has been living in it. If it's vermiculite, the pebbly loose stuff, work stops until a testing service or contractor checks it for asbestos. If the old layer is dry and even, we leave it and add on top instead of tearing it out, because ripping out good insulation just costs you money. Before anything new goes in, we seal the gaps around lights, pipes and the hatch, because insulation can't do much with a draft blowing through it, and we keep the eave vents clear so the attic can still breathe. Then we blow in loose fill, which is insulation blown through a hose, and we run it full depth out to the edges, where most attics come up thin. For walls, I'll talk you through drilling from inside or outside and what each one means for your house.

Most retrofit work is really attic insulation on a house that already has some, topped up and sealed. Spray foam insulation costs more and seals air while it insulates, so I usually steer you there only when the ductwork runs through the attic. Otherwise, sealing the gaps and topping up the loose fill does the job for less.

The City of Clarksville's permitting page says a homeowner may get a permit to do work on their own primary single-family residence, as Tennessee law allows. Some addresses around here fall under the county instead of the city, so before we start we find out which office covers yours and what it wants. When a permit is needed for our part of the job, we take care of it, and if part of the work belongs to another trade, we tell you so.

A lot of the older houses we see around Clarksville have very little up in the attic, and some still have knob and tube wiring, an old two-wire system that has to stay uncovered by insulation. When we find it, we keep the insulation off it and tell you, and if there's any doubt about its condition, a licensed electrician should look it over. We see the same older houses on jobs in Oak Grove and Pleasant View.