Attic Upgrade FAQ

How much does attic insulation cost?

In order to determine the cost to upgrade your attic, we need to know a few things:

square footage of attic
type(s) of insulation that are in the attic
depth of the existing insulation
does your home have insulation stops in place

If you know the answers to these questions, we can provide an estimate for you over the phone. If not, we’d be happy to arrange for a free in-home attic inspection and estimate.

How do you upgrade attic insulation?

After you have reviewed your written estimate, had all your questions answered, and approve the job we will set up an installation appointment that works best for you. Typically we book 5-10 days ahead of time, but this may vary over the course of the year.

On your install date our uniformed employees will show up on time and have you sign off on your quote if you haven’t already. At this point, the installers will:

Lay down plastic backed drop cloths from you front door to your attic hatch, and corner protection to prevent any damage to your home when they walk in and out, and bring the hose in and out of the attic.
Enter the attic and mark the required depth for the new insulation to ensure you get exactly the right amount of insulation, and install insulation stops if your home requires them. Insulation stops are required in homes built before 1980 to ensure that there is adequate space along the soffit for fresh air to enter your attic.
Bring in the hose that is used to blown in your new insulation, and then one installer will begin loading material into the blowing machine in the truck and the other will install the insulation in your attic.
Build an attic access collar to contain the new, deeper insulation out of rolled cardboard, and insulate and weatherstrip the attic hatch panel.
Complete the installation and offer you a chance to take a look at the work prior to closing the hatch.
Take the hose out of the home, roll up the drop cloths, and vacuum up any trace of insulation.
Collect payment and leave you with a receipt for your records.

What type of insulation do you use?

We prefer to us JM Climate Pro blown-in fiber glass insulation, which is a premium alternative to cellulose. Unlike cellulose, it won't settle, hold moisture, suffer permanent loss of R-Value, decay or provide food for animals or microbes. It's blown in to cover attics and hard-to-reach areas within attics, like corners, edges and around framing. It is noncorrosive and noncombustible. When it's applied to the recommended thickness and specifications, you can be assured that your home is energy-efficient, with minimal heat loss. Climate Pro is made locally using more than 50% recycled glass, and is chemical free. Because it is guaranteed never to settle, it's effective for the life of your home. Climate Pro® insulation is made specifically for professionals using large truck-mounted high volume production blowing wool machines and for the Blow-In-Blanket System®.

Beware any contractor that tells you that one type of insulation does or doesn’t work - this is simply not true. Details Insulation installs every type of insulation (including cellulose in situations where only a small section is being removed and replaced after water damage) and we make our choices on what product we sell based on what’s best for our customers, not based on what we’re used to installing or what we get a good deal on

Here’s the moral of the story: Any insulation, whether it be cellulose, fiberglass, or spray foam, will work as long as it is installed properly and by an installer that cares. We choose fiberglass insulation over cellulose because in our opinion, it is the best option for our climate.

Why fiberglass attic insulation, and not cellulose?

It's no secret that in Edmonton, we get some pretty wild swings in our weather. It is not uncommon to see the temperature swing back and forth above and below zero in our winters and every time this happens there is a possibility for condensation to form in your attic. Cellulose is shredded paper fiber, treated with fire retardants. It will retain moisture—so if you have any condensation or ever have a leak in your roof this might lead to trouble since the cellulose won’t dry out completely. Neither fiberglass or cellulose is designed to be soaked with water and dry out perfectly, but the fact is that fiberglass is more moisture resistant and is able to dry out when exposed to small amounts of moisture. This is very important when you live in a climate that has as large of and as frequent of swings in temperature as we do here in Edmonton.

I was told fiberglass doesn’t work when it’s cold out… is this true?

Every conventional insulation (fiberglass, cellulose, mineral wool etc.) loses some of its R-Value (its resistance to heat flow) when the temperature is very cold. This is because, unlike spray foam insulation, they rely on trapping air to provide insulating value. As the temperature drops below -30, conventional insulations lose a percentage of the R-Value. Because of cellulose’s higher density, it performs moderately better below -30. The code requirements for insulation take this into account, and so long as your home has the minimum requirement of R40, or better yet – R50, you can be assured that your insulation is providing you the protection you need. Saying that one type of insulation does or doesn’t work simply isn’t true. We believe that when you consider all the advantages and disadvantages of cellulose and fiberglass attic insulation, the best option is fiberglass.