Insulation Removal
Many homeowners inquire about removing or vacuuming the existing insulation from their attic, often this is not necessary. The only time we recommend removing old insulation is when the insulation has been fire damaged, water damaged or heavily infested with rodents. Over the last couple years we’ve seen a growing trend for other insulation companies to flippantly recommend that the existing insulation should be removed prior to installing new insulation.
Most homes already have some existing attic insulation already in their attic. For decades it’s been entirely standard procedure to add more insulation to what you already have in order to bring the attic up to an R-38 rating. The existing insulation may be dusty, filled with old roofing debris and look quite tattered, but it’s just old material; it doesn’t contain asbestos nor contain anything that wouldn’t be rendered safe once new and fresh material is installed over it. Also, there’s no chemical interaction or problem with mixing various insulation materials either. We actually can save you money by using your existing insulation as a base and installing enough additional material over it to bring the attic up to R-38.
In situations where insulation removal is required, we hand-remove the fiberglass rolls and pack them in bags that are carefully removed from your attic. If the attic has blown material, we use a large vacuum to remove all the material. The vacuum is usually outside the house and this creates a “negative pressure” in the attic such that air is being drawn up into the attic, this ensures a clean job where little or no debris enters the home.Vacuuming and removal is a very labor-intensive and time-consuming task, we generally need a week’s notice to get to a job and it may take 1-2 days to complete. We charge by a price per square foot, please call our offices for a quote.