Tips On How To Improve Attic Insulation | Air Sealing | Radiant Heat 

Is your attic ready for summer?!

Wish you were in Utah. Every contractor I talk to about doing something like this looks at me like I’m completely crazy because we have blown I cellulose that is waist deep. There is no baffles to keep it from the edge, nothing is air sealed. Clearly what they did is not working because it is ridiculously hot in our upstairs and no way the HVAC ducts running through the hot attic is efficient.

Wow! You have been extremely helpful. I love your channel! As a new homeowner, I've learned enough from your channel to be able to call contractors in my area, actually know what I'm talking about and ask questions to make sure they will take care of us. So far no company has been as thorough as you! The last company I called said that the attic did not need to be air sealed and they don't do it! Come to Pittsburgh, Pa I could really use your help!

You provide a great service to DIY homeowners. I'm currently renovating a 75 yr old cypress log cabin. It has cypress beams supporting the ceiling of 1x6 tongue and groove cypress planks. These cypress planks are the attic floor, so the attic floor is basically a flat surface with a few wires and light fixtures cut into the planks. There are no rafters or soffits, just some gable vents. The attic floor/room ceiling is very leaky, as I can see light penetrations in a few spots. How would you recommend air sealing this attic space, should I cover the floor with some plywood or insulating foam board to air seal it before blowing in new insulation? Thanks for any suggestions...

This is exactly what I'm in the process of doing. But first I have to remove and clean my soffit which has filled up with leaves and fiberglass dragged into the space by squirrels.

Great video. I am having our insulation removed this spring. The electrical wiring in our 10 year old home in York County SC was so bad most of it has been replaced. And I have already air sealed around all electrical/cable/pumbing penetrations. One question I have is why didn't you use fire block foam around the electrical devices? Wish you well. Great work.

Thank you for these tips. Air sealing these penetrations need to be building code for ALL new/remodeled homes NATIONWIDE! FYI - some newer building codes call it "fire stop" for these air penetrations, but if your home is older than 5-8 years old, I would guess that you don't have that protection. Also, glad you pointed out the styrofoam baffles; cardboard baffles should be illegal! Cardboard is a spider, bug and mice breeder.

If I was working in hot attics I'd be beardless and short hair for sure. I've had the same length hair as you in an attempt to see if I could look like a rock star and have the strength of Sampson. Also had a goatee. I was working at a dealership in Sacramento, and couldn't take the heat anymore. My stylist refused to cut off my hair, so I had to got to a Fantastic Sams type place. I went to see my Mom one day. The second she laid eyes on me, she fainted. I put tape over my uniform at work and nobody knew who I was! The owner just about fainted too! Was pretty fun.

@crawl Space Ninja . We have a very old house (1.5 storey) . We have knee walls all on the second storey and no access to the space above the rooms where the roof meets. Do you have any videos on how to creat an access door to knee walls and to the area I am describing? Also what would be the best thing to do for this space, I’m assuming it is very small as the ceilings in the room are right against the roof if that makes sense? It gets extremely hot upstairs in the summer and very cold in the winter (Canada) . We also have no return vents in the upper part of our home which doesn’t help.

Mike, thanks for another terrific and informative video. I wish you were close to serve my area!

Are these pretty much the same steps for a one story hip roof. Any differences?

Great video. How do you seal around flex ducts that penetrate through the insulation layer of the attic floor? I have found warmed air escapes up through the blown-in around the flex duct like a chimney. Cold air from the attic drops through the insulation and contacts the interior drywall where it is warmed and rises again into the attic. It rises following the path of least resistance, which is the natural gap between the flex duct and the blowin in insulation.

As you grow the branches, will the branches keep the sames quality of work described?

Approx cost/square foot to suck out insulation put in baffles and can light covers. Reinsulate You are not in our area. Thanks for your help. I’m in the triad area NC if you may know of contractors fits your detailed work

All those conduit air gaps! That's what happens when your contractor decides that it's too much hassle to carry a set of properly sized hole saws and just uses the biggest one all the time because "it fits everything." And it's not hard to carry a little can of spray foam with you to finish the job (or a tube of silicon for exterior openings).

the small fast growing city I live would be ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for this business!

I appreciate your video, truly found it informative and easy to stay tuned. Plus, you sound like the comedian Dusty Slay, so an added bonus!

I would not use spray foam because traditional insulations are good enough and easy to maintenance.

Thanks I’ll consider it- thanks you for the quick response .

There are so many cape cod style house's here in the Central Valley area of California, (mine included) nobody knows how to cool the upstairs down. Big initial marketing point to start with around here. No shortage of crooked contractors and builders either

One problem that I have is probably 60 percent of my attic has boards nailed down. Is it worth it to remove the boards, air seal everything and then add loose fill insulation? It has minimal loose insulation under the boards and I am sure air sealing was never done it.

Hey I'll be re watching all your videos soon but my research brought me back to the attic for now, what foam would you use to seal those electrical wires? Window and door foam?

Hey guys, what is the best way to insulate a electrical box in the roof? (like a regular basic interior box to mount a regular chandler or light). Would you recommend plastic and acoustic sealant OR spray foam the edges?

Amazing video just gained a sub keep it up from a fellow attic ninja

Hey Michael, i'm building an addition and used trusses. Our best option for the HVAC is a 2 ton exterior unit, but it's a little bigger than we need, but would be simplest for install and noise. To find more square feet needed for HVAC- I'm thinking of sealing up the center portion of the trusses and running a vent there (ac/heat). So the center portion would be conditioned, with the rest of attic blown insulation. Would this work with creating problems? Thanks for your time and thoughts.

There's a lot of great information and examples here, thanks.

Thank you Michael. I have a home in Vero Beach, FL that I recently purchased. I need a proper evaluation and recommendations. How do I go about finding a qualified and honest contractor there? Thanks. BTW, it's a 1973 1100 sq. ft. rectangular concrete block ranch with a crawl space attic.

Sure wish you guys were in the Pacific Northwest. We desperately need dependable, honest contractors.

Hi Ninja Mike, Great videos, very helpful . In step 2, Air seal, 8:02 in this video,...Do we need to air seal every single joist or just the top plates and drywall joints? (already sealed wire and plumbing holes with fire block foam) TY Sir.

Vent ducts should never be terminated in the attic , especially dryer vents. Consider a no duct heat pump dryer to save energy (3 times more efficient and doesn't exhaust your conditioned air while sucking in unconditioned air) and eliminate the dryer duct. For the remaining ducts, you can get a fan that combines multiple ducts into a single roof penetrating exhaust vent.

So I renovated my house 2 years ago so the attic insulation is only 2 years old. However after watching your video I have realized I missed a step. If I remove all this new insulation to air seal, can it be reused or not? Trying to keep costs down since it’s newer.

How do you charge for attic and crawl space by the job or is there a price for square feet

Would poorly installed baffles cause a room to be uncomfortable? Cold in the winter, hot in the summer?

I was told pest control wont deal with a house with foam in the attic would this count? 8:29

Hi Michael! Awesome and very informative channel. My husband and I are thinking about putting recessed lighting in our living room. Our attic looks like the ones pictured in your video. Is there a risk of the lights getting too hot to cause fire to the insulation?

Do you need a vapor barrier

So in the attic , with the ceiling below exposed. do you seal all the drywall seams as well? My older home used what appears to be 2x3 pieces of drywall . I guess made for easier handling, but looking at it from the right angle, you can see all the seams on the finished side Many seams .And do you do the whole perimeter of the outer top plates? Thanks

Any recommendations for a contractor in las vegas nv. Area.

Great video and super information

Greenville,South Carolina needs you !

Any in Texas

All these great companies that are far away from me

Congrats. Are you selling shares

God bless you sir!

your amazing

Ninjas: Do you have any tips to share on how to best remove batt insulation from under the house. Thank you.

Any chance of doing business in Cincinnati?

Live in Portage Indiana 46368 - do you have any references in that area.