How to Prepare a House for Winter: 5 Things to Do Before the Snow Falls

The winter season is coming, and we all need to prepare ourselves for the colder weather to come. For homes, there are a good amount of things to do to prepare your home to survive this chilly season. Now there’s a need to stress because we understand it can be overwhelming at first, but this is where we have your back. We’ve created a small to-do list here to get started preparing your home for winter before the first snowfall.

5 This to Do Before the Snow Fallls

Below is a good starter to-do list we’ve created for you to utilize.

Inspect Your Roof

Ensuring your roof can withstand the harsh weather the winter season brings is crucial and should be done as soon as possible. So take a good look at your roof and keep an eye out for any damages or missing shingles. This can be a sign that your roofing won’t make it through all the snowstorms that can occur during the cold season, leading to significant damages for you and some costly repairs in the springtime. When you find them, hiring someone to do these repairs is a lot better than waiting until spring and those issues become twice as bad.

Clear Out Vents

If you didn’t know what those vents were for in your attic, let us tell you about them. They play an important role in your attic and roofing, and they create airflow and prevent mold growth from occurring up there. Not only that, but it also helps keep dampness at bay, so none of your wooden beams rot during the cold and wet season of winter. Making sure that those are cleaned out from debris and dust can ensure that your attic is ready for winter when it comes.

Check Out Your Heating System

Don’t wait until the last minute when the cold is rolling in to check out your heating system. Calling a technician inspector to come to clean out your furnace or heat pump before winter arrives it’s better than freezing. This way, here you can be at peace knowing your heating system is in top shape for the weather to come.

Drain Your Hoses

The season for watering your plants and garden is over, but you can’t just leave the hose out all winter long. You need to drain all the water out before storing your hose. This prevents unwanted cracks and bursts in the hose during the frosty season. Laying it out gently on a slope of some sort can easily drain out all the water built up in the bends of the hose. When it’s time to start watering your plants, you are sure that your hose is ready for the job.

Beware Your Gutters

Having gutters that aren’t cared for can bring you some wintertime troubles. This can lead to many issues such as roof leaks, ice dams and well-focused water damage. Call the professionals for this job! They can get it done quickly and spotless so all your gutters can be free of debris and ready for the snow to come.

Whenever you need a professional for those tough jobs, you can always count on us! Get a free estimate here, and our professionals are waiting to answer any of your questions.

Is It Possible For Me to Install Attic Insulation Myself?

Have your energy bills have hit the roof, and are you are considering installing DIY attic insulation or thinking about hiring a pro? Before you start heading out to the home depot, let’s look at both pros and cons before you decide.

DIY Attic Insulation

With insulation, you need a lot of time, and it takes loads of effort to get the project done. Going the do-it-yourself route is affordable when choosing fiberglass batts or rolls. You can install them in open areas like your attic, rim joists, and crawl spaces.

Alternatively, you can use blown-in cellulose insulation but need a rented machine to get the work done. Finally, there is the option of using expensive foam boards, but you can install them yourself. Going the DIY route is cost-effective as you can work at your own pace, especially if the contractor you use cannot fit you in soon enough.

Still, it does come with cons, as mishandling the fiberglass, you end up with it in your skin or inhaling it. Also, using cellulose blowing, you need to know how to handle the machine, or it ends up going all over the place, adding more costs than expected to clean it up.

While foam board is similar to fiberglass, you need to cut them precisely for the area. If you cut wrong, you need to buy more, adding more costs. Also, as you do not have the training, the DIY method can take longer, and getting it done correctly is essential.

If anything goes wrong, you damage the home’s structure and will need to pay for the repairs. Another thing is if there is old insulation, you will need to remove and dispose of it. Then you have structural issues to consider, like missing a leaking roof as the water can become an issue.

Lastly, the effectiveness all depends on the product quality and installation.

Hiring a Professional Insulation Contractor

While it can cost more, you know the work is done right the first time. For example, you tear down drywall when you do DIY insulation. But using a pro, they know that they can insulate areas without doing this. Getting it right the first time is difficult for spray foam insulation if it is a large job.

To receive the benefits of specialized foam insulation, a contractor has the equipment to handle the job the first time for you to reap the benefits. Even the time it takes for you to do the job is cut down, and they have insurance with a license if something goes wrong and need to take care of the repairs saving you money.

The pro insulation contractor will also remove and dispose of the old insulation. Again, they have an understanding of the building codes. The con is that it is expensive compared to your DIY insulation. Also, if there is damage to the structure and the contractor you hired is not reputable, you can pay for the repairs.

Lastly, you may need to wait for the contractor to fit you in with their busy schedule.

What Is The Best Option for You?

When hiring a contractor, you have minimal cons with pros attached. Yes, it is expensive, but the contractor can get the job done faster than you doing it at your own pace. Also, you have a set of skills that could be handyman features. But suppose you have never done handyman work before. In that case, it might be best to leave it to the professionals to get the job done effectively. Lastly, you can obtain multiple quotes from contractors to choose the proper estimate that works for you.

How Much Insulation Do I Need?

Help, my home is cold in winter and scorching in summer, and I need insulation. But how much do I need? There are several factors you need to consider when installing the right amount of insulation. First, you need to ask yourself where you live before installing any insulation. Here are some tips to understand how much insulation your house needs.

Determine Which Area of the Home you Want to Insulate

The insulation amount depends on where you want to install the insulation. Common locations for insulation in the walls, floors, basement, or attic. You use insulation to prevent updrafts to draw cool air in for the attic. You will need more than insulating the floors for roof or attic insulation.

You can consider blown-in insulation for wall insulation or existing batting if you have an older house. Again, you will need more material than placed under the floor but less than in the attic. But if there are gaps in the flooring with cold air trapped insulation can keep moisture away.

Suppose you are unsure how much insulation you need. In that case, the best is to contact a professional insulation installer to fill small gaps using spray foam.

Talk to a Building Contractor To Find Out the Minimum R-value

The R-value describes the material capacity to insulate. But to understand what it means, the best is to talk to the pros to advise you on the needed specs in your region. For example, you live in the southern parts of the country, the R-value for the attic is around R-30 compared to someone living in the northern parts needing R-38 insulation. The reason is that winters are colder in the north, and a professional insulation contractor can help.

Insulating the Walls

To determine how much insulation you need in the walls, you need to measure the width and height multiplied and subtract the window and door areas. Hence, you need to measure each wall in width and height and the same for windows and doors. Once multiplying the wall measurements, you subtract the measurements for the windows and doors. Discuss your insulation needs with the recommendation of a pro insulator today.

Do You Live In an Older Home?

You will need more insulation than living in newer buildings if you do. We recommend using blown-in insulation throughout the holes for these types of insulation to optimize the living space comfort. As with walls, the same applies to floors, and you need to measure the width and length of the area. Doing this allows you to know how many rolls of insulation you need. You will likely need more insulation for all the floors than the attic and interior walls.

Also, Look at Your Existing Insulation

If there is insulation in the home, you will not need much starting from scratch. However, while the insulation might meet the energy guidelines, it still needs sprucing up if it is cold indoors in winter and scorching in summer. Furthermore, it depends on where you plan to add the insulation and spray foam insulation in certain areas.

Final Thoughts

The amount of insulation you need can depend on the insulation you use and already have previously installed insulation. You can find vast selections of insulation available. So, suppose you want to make sure about how much you need. In that case, we recommend talking to a professional insulation provider for the best recommendations and advice.

Common Myths About Insulation

A vital part of a building, whether commercial or residential, is insulation. Having insulation keeps the living space cool in summer and warm in winter. Furthermore, it reduces your energy consumption and helps remove carbon emissions. Now it is more important than ever to provide your work or home with sustainable energy using insulation. But we know that you heard about all the myths, and we want to provide you with actual facts.

It is Costly to Install Insulation

For the past number of years, you can get a grant from The Canadian Greener Homes available to most homeowners. Thus, to prevent the costly expenses of having insulation, you can apply for this grant to save you money. So, you can get a return on your investment for a comfortable living space and save on your power bills.

Low U-values matter

Yes, a low U-value does matter, but you must look at more than the numbers when you do insulation. You should install insulation as part of your whole-home approach using best practices and done correctly. For example, using quality installers, consider different things like draught-proofing and airtightness to seal moisture.

When installing insulation, the correct way helps eliminate thermal bridging and condensation risks to low surface temperatures. For example, Ottawa Insulation ensures that values remain above the 0.75 figure to protect against mold growth with proper ventilation for clean air.

Insulation Can Damage the Structure

When insulation is installed correctly using a professional insulator, there is no damage to the structure. Before installation, an on-site survey of the whole home is done to find the best location for the type of insulation you use. An experienced installer can identify issues before recommending insulation with alternative solutions.

Insulation Only Helps in the Winter

You get year-round insulation with your investment. During the winter, your living space is warm, while it keeps your home cool in summer. With adequately installed insulation, it slows down the movement of heat between your living spaces to keep indoor temperatures comfortable in heat or cold outside. In addition, when you use your air conditioner, you save money on the power bill, and the same applies in winter using your boiler.

You use Insulation Only for Energy Saving and Efficiency

With insulation, it increases your comfort level in your house to increase the occupant’s health. While the main benefit is energy savings and efficiency, it is not the only benefit. External insulation makes the outside of the home look fresh, choosing a range of colours with textures to fit in with your lifestyle and needs.

Furthermore, using pipe insulation, you can enjoy soundproofing to soften outside noise and vibrations. Lastly, it can protect against corrosion damage on pipes, ducts, and condensation forming. Still, it can also increase your building energy rating while increasing the home value.

Final Thoughts

These are some of the myths with facts concerning home insulation. The important thing is to take a whole-home approach using a professional insulation installer to have the insulation done. Then, with the help of an expert, they provide you with the best insulation material and methods to use in your living space.

Best Insulation Types for Bungalows

Do you own a bungalow house? Then the likeliness is that it has minimal insulation. Still, did you know that you can cut down costs on your energy bill when you insulate the roof? In addition, you will find after insulation, your bungalow roof functions better in winter to remain warm for you and our guests. But what types of insulation will work on a dormer-type rooftop, and what is the best option to choose? Well, stay a bit longer as we go through the available options to decide what will work best for you.

1. Using a Rigid Insulation

The insulation method is thick 150mm insulation between the roof rafters with an air gap of 50mm to prevent cold bridging. If the existing space is insufficient, the insulation professionals fix a batten to the rafter on the underside to enhance depth. The thermal conductivity is between 0.020 and 0.023 W/m K to keep the room warm.

2. Spray Foam Insulation

Spray foam insulation has been around for a while in many Canadian homes for over 30 years. The advantage of using this insulation method is that you can use it over other types of insulation. Another benefit is placing it in hard-to-reach spots to allow enough ventilation and breathe the construction.

You need no air gaps, and it can be applied to areas where traditional methods do not work. In addition, the fabric provides a superior seal to eliminate leaks and provides a thermal conductivity of 0.032 and 0.037 W/m K.

3. Using Mineral Wool

The insulation technique provides thermal conductivity of 0.040-0.044 W/m K and works with up to 350mm insulation between rafters. For the desired thickness, insulation pros need to build it up in 100mm to 150mm layers.

What Insulation Should You Choose?

These are the three main types for insulating your bungalow home. But we recommend using a reliable company when doing the insulation. As an insulation provider, we at Ottawa Insulation recommend using spray foam insulation for many reasons.

Using spray foam can reach places in the roof other methods cannot achieve.
The technique is simple as all the technician needs to do is spray the foam, and it expands by itself to achieve excellent results.
You do not need air gaps and can cover tiny holes to prevent pests from entering your living space to start nesting.
Further, spray foam insulation is resistant to mold buildup leading to no adverse health concerns.
Lastly, this form of roof insulation works well on ready-constructed buildings with a bungalow roof not insulated when built. The chance is that the structure does not have the space for installing the other methods.

Final Thoughts

Insulating your bungalow home is worthwhile but needs preparing well. You can contact Ottawa Insulation to provide you with an open-celled variety of spray foaming insulation as it is better for this type of installation. Transform your bungalow roof into a comfortable space today.

5 Reasons to Insulate Your Home Before Winter

Winter is just around the corner now, and we all know what that means; cold weather is coming. Now you may be thinking that you got everything you need to stay warm this season, but does your home? Yes, with the days getting colder, we all know it’s that time of year when we need to add that extra layer to keep warm, but you don’t want to have to wear those thick winter socks and jackets on in your own home now, do you? This is why having the proper insulation for your home is essential to staying warm on those cold winter days and nights. Here are some key reasons why you should make sure that your home is well insulated before winter comes knocking on your front door.

1. It’s a Huge Money Saver!

Insulation has one job to do, and that’s to keep warm air from escaping out of your house. An excellent insulated home keeps its temperature to whatever degree you set it to. Air can’t escape, which lets you have a cozy home without cranking up the heaters. The less your heaters have to work to heat your home; the more money stays in your pocket in the long run.

2. It Reduces the Noise Levels in Your Home

If you live on a busy street or have people living in your home that can be pretty loud, it can be tricky getting some peace and quiet for yourself. But a well-insulated home can help with these issues and potentially even solve them. Insulation has been known to be a great sound barrier to reduce the noise levels in your home. So whether it’s from the snowplows going by in the early morning hours or someone’s being a tad bit loud, having a well-insulated home can bring you peace of mind in more ways than one.

3. No Need for Those Extra Layers

As mentioned previously, when the cold season comes, you want to stay warm and cozy in your home with whatever desired temperature level you have on. Insulation helps with that by preventing any outdoor air from penetrating through the walls of your home. It also helps prevent drafts from occurring near the windows. When winter comes keeping warm is the main priority.

4. Improves the Air Quality in Your Home

Good quality insulation is often waterproof, which helps lower condensation levels in your home. This, in turn, means you can avoid any mold growth behind those walls. Because of this, you can feel safe knowing that the air quality in your home stays at a high level.

5. What Roof Damage?

Having proper insulation in your attic can prevent significant problems in the long run. If your attic isn’t properly insulated, heat will rise and leak through your roof. This then melts the snow, and because of that happens, it will accumulate and damage your roof, leading to you having a leaky roof. Get proper insulation in your attic, and you’ll never have to worry about leaky, damaged roofs ever.

With winter around the corner, you don’t want to wait for another second to make sure you have good insulation throughout your home. Make your warmth and comfort a priority; visit our website here for a free estimation and reserve your spot today!

What Is the Most Eco-Friendly Type of Insulation?

When installing insulation, there are many factors to consider. Durability and efficiency are two very important considerations, but it is also important to think about whether the insulation is eco-friendly. Properly insulated homes use less energy, meaning all insulation is eco-friendly to some degree. But, there are four types of insulation that are especially eco-friendly.

Wool Insulation

Wool insulation is an affordable, natural, and eco-friendly insulation. This type of insulation can be used in your attic, walls, and floors. Wool insulation purifies the air, reduces thermal conductivity, regulates humidity, and provides your home with sound insulation. An added benefit is that wool self extinguishes, meaning that it does not burn up.

Wool is a one-hundred percent natural source of insulation. There is an abundance of the material and it requires very little preparation. In fact, the only step necessary to prepare wood as insulation is cleaning.

Denim Insulation

Denim, or cotton, insulation is composed mostly of reused scraps of denim and boric-acid-treated plastic. The boric acid provides the plastic with a flame-resistant component. The chemical used to make the insulation flame retardant also prevents the growth of fungus and bacteria. Denim insulation also prevents pests and insects from entering your home.

The low density and natural air gaps of this insulation increase the insulation’s thermal resistance. Denim insulation is widely considered the most eco-friendly type of insulation because it is made of recycled materials and the insulation can be recycled again after removal.

Cellulose Insulation

Similar to denim insulation, cellulose insulation is composed of mostly organic materials with some boric acid. Cellulose insulation is composed mostly of plant fibers and recycled materials. It is estimated that seventy percent of cellulose insulation contains recycled newspaper.

Blown-in insulation is both easy to install and cost-effective. This type of insulation is also a loose fit. This insulation provides homeowners with a variety of benefits. Not only is cellulose insulation effective, but the boric acid deters rodents and insects. This type of insulation also improves your home’s sound barrier.

Spray Foam Insulation

Another form of insulation that is widely considered to be one of the most eco-friendly kinds of insulation is spray foam. Spray foam insulation is created by combining polyol resin and a type of isocyanate. The main advantage of this type of insulation is that it expands to fill whatever space it is placed. This creates an air-tight seal around cracks and crevices.

Spray foam insulation is very effective and greatly decreases your home’s energy usage. This quality minimizes the homeowner’s carbon footprint.

Consult the Professionals

Professional Ottawa Insulation installers can help you find the insulation that best fits you and your home’s needs. A wide range of insulation types is available ranging in effectiveness, costs, and degree of eco-friendliness.

Can Insulation be Reused and Recycled?

As time passes, we seem to become more focused on preserving the Earth. The size of our carbon footprint and the eco-friendliness of the items we use matter. We’ve found a way to recycle almost everything, from plastic bottles to construction materials. Before tossing things out, we find ourselves asking whether the object can be reused or recycled. This is true of insulation as well. Can insulation be reused and recycled?

Made From Recycled Materials

One eco-friendly bonus of insulation is that the materials used to create it come from recycled materials. Denim insulation is primarily made from old denim jeans. Cellulose insulation is made of plant fibers and recycled materials. Wool insulation is made entirely from a renewable resource. Although these forms of insulation are created from recycled materials, they are often difficult to recycle after use.

Recycling Old Insulation

Recycling old insulation can be a difficult and time-consuming practice. This is because recycled materials are often mixed with materials containing acids or plexiglass. These non-recyclable materials would need to be separated before recycling. The process of separating the recyclable materials from the non-recyclable materials can be very difficult.

Reusing Old Insulation

In the race to be more eco-friendly, our first instinct is to recycle, so we sometimes forget that many items can simply be reused. Insulation is one of those things that are easy to reuse. Insulation has a specified range in lifespan that depends on many factors. Many of these factors may only degrade the usefulness of a small area of insulation.

Next time you replace your old insulation consider keeping the old insulation that is still in good shape and ridding your home of the wet, moldy, or mildewed pieces. Doing this allows you to install less insulation and reuse the insulation that does not need to be thrown out yet.

Removal Challenges

While it may be very difficult to recycle your installation, there are many other challenges to removal. To start, insulation is typically held in hard-to-reach areas such as walls and attics. Another challenge related to the removal of insulation is that mold, water, dirt, and dust build-up on the surface of insulation over time. The removal process is often a dirty one.

Consult A Professional

Professional Ottawa Insulation experts could help you determine what to do with the old insulation. They may offer to recycle the insulation for you or they may encourage you to leave the insulation and apply new insulation over the top of it. Provided that the old insulation is not dirty or damaged, it does not necessarily have to be removed. Let a professional deal with the disposal and clean-up associated with the removal of insulation.

When Should I Remove Insulation?

The useful life of insulation typically ranges between seventy and one hundred years. The incredibly long lifespan of the construction material leaves many homeowners confused as to how often the insulation needs to be replaced and whether it even needs to be removed. In general, insulation does not need to be removed unless the damage incurred will damage the new insulation as well.

Useful Life of Insulation

The useful life of undamaged insulation is between seventy and one hundred years. The useful life of the product is diminished when the product is damaged or gets wet. A leaking roof, gaping crevice, or open window can all cause water damage to your attic insulation. It is important to keep insulation dry, once it is exposed to water, it can grow mold or mildew. Water damage can spread from old insulation to new insulation if placed next to each other.

Home Energy Audits and Inspections

It may be a good idea to have a home energy audit or insulation inspection once every ten to fifteen years. These methods monitor the condition of your insulation as well as your home’s ability to regulate temperature and energy usage. These audits and inspections can provide you with an early indication of insulation damage, allowing you to save the undamaged insulation.

Signs to Replace Insulation

A home energy audit or inspection would provide you with an indication of whether you need to replace your installation, but there are many other signs as well. Temperature fluctuations throughout your home are a sign that insulation needs replaced. If you would designate your bedroom as the coldest room in the house, or there’s a closet that is excessively warm, these are signs that your insulation is not even.

Your energy bills provide another indication of whether your home’s insulation needs to be replaced. Most regions have an average energy cost per square foot. If your home’s energy cost varies significantly from that cost, you may need to replace your installation. Moisture and humidity are two more symptoms of ineffective insulation. Humidity and attic moisture indicate that the insulation is wet and at risk of mold or mildew. Wet insulation should be removed and replaced immediately as it can cause further damage to your home.

When to Remove Insulation

While replacing your home’s insulation it is not necessary to remove the old. Most professionals would recommend that you leave old insulation in place as it further benefits your home and increases its ability to regulate temperature. The only instance where it is absolutely necessary to remove insulation is when water damage has occurred. In these cases, it is not only recommended but necessary to remove the damaged insulation. Once wet, the insulation can spread mold and mildew to new insulation and cause the underlying wood to rot.

Attic Insulation R-Value Explained

When purchasing insulation one of the biggest considerations is the R-Value. The R-Value plays a large role in setting the price of the insulation because it determines how effective and useful the insulation is. Because price increases as the R-Value improve, many people want to know what R-Value is required. The required R-Value of insulation depends on multiple factors. These factors include the location you live in, where the insulation will be placed, and the age of your home.

What Is an R-Value?

Before diving too deep into the technicalities, let’s review what an R-Value is. An R-Value measures an insulation’s ability to reduce the flow of heat. It expresses the ability of the insulation to block the passage of air or resist heat from entering and exiting through the insulated space. The R-Value effectively measures the insulation’s ability to save on energy and regulate the temperature within your home.

What R-Value Do I Need

As we stated earlier, the necessary R-Value depends on many factors. One important factor is the location where the insulation will be placed. Remember that the greater the R-Value the better the insulation is at restricting heat flow. Exterior walls typically require an R-value between 13 and 23. Attics and ceilings often require an R-Value of 30, 38, or 49.

R-Value Recommendations

Another key consideration when installing attic insulation is where you live. Northern regions in the United States and Ottawa insulation requirements include an R-Value of 49 to 60 based on EnergyStar guidelines. Northern states like Washington, Montana, and Maine require an R-Value closer to R-49. States along the middle of the continental United States require an R-Value around 38 to 60. As you travel south in the United States, the required R-Value decreases.

R-Value and Insulation Amount

Where you install insulation and the location you live in are not the only considerations to take when selecting insulation. You may also want to consider the amount of insulation necessary to achieve the required R-Value. Carefully read packaging and research insulation types to determine the thickness of insulation required to achieve the recommended R-Value for our project.

Consult the Professionals

There are so many factors and considerations to take before purchasing and installing insulation, sometimes it is easier to leave the job in the hands of attic insulation professionals. An insulation professional and expert can help you decide which type and thickness of insulation are needed for your home. They understand the region’s R-value requirements and can ensure that your home is insulated adequately.