Attic air sealing in Davenport IA - drafts stopped before new insulation goes down

Most people call us about a cold room, a hot upstairs or a power bill that keeps climbing, and they figure the attic just needs more insulation. Often it needs the holes closed first, because warm air slips up through them and right past whatever's lying on the attic floor, which is why I look at sealing before attic insulation. The price moves with how many openings there are and how much is in the way of reaching them, and the schedule turns on whether anything has to be fixed before we start. You'll get your own number when I come out and write the estimate at your house.

Before anything gets sealed, I check whether your attic is ready, because some aren't yet, and I'd rather tell you what has to be fixed first than seal over it. Then our crew moves the old insulation back so we can reach the gaps, and we seal the holes where wires, pipes and lights come through the ceiling, with caulk for small cracks and foam or rigid blocking for the bigger openings. We leave the soffit, ridge and gable vents and any combustion air ducts open, because those are meant to move air, and burying them is how moisture ends up in the framing. Once the floor is tight, the insulation goes back down, spread even all the way out to the edges where it usually runs thin.

If what's up there is thin, we top it up with blown-in fill, loose insulation blown in through a hose, which is the same retrofit insulation work we do in plenty of older houses. Homeowners ask about spray foam insulation too. It costs more and seals air while it insulates, but sealing the gaps and topping up loose fill usually gets you there for less, unless your ductwork runs through the attic, which is where foam earns its price.

The City of Davenport's permit list names remodels, roofing and new electrical, plumbing or heating installations, and attic air sealing isn't on it, so the list alone doesn't settle whether your job needs a permit. If it does, we take care of it with the city and tell you about it up front. Building, mechanical, plumbing and electrical work in Davenport generally has to be done by a licensed and bonded contractor, and that contractor takes out the permit. If you own a single-family house and want to do your own remodeling, the city lets you do it without a contractor license, except for mechanical, electrical and plumbing work, and you'd take out your permits at the Building Counter in the Davenport Public Works Center, open weekdays 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except holidays.

A lot of the houses we get called to here are older, with can lights added over the years, a chimney up through the middle and bath fans someone ran into the attic instead of outside. We find the same holes and the same surprises on jobs in Bettendorf and Rock Island, and in cities on both sides of the river.