Wall Insulation in Bowling Green, KY

Wall insulation is the next step after the attic in many older Bowling Green homes. Brick ranches and older frame houses from the middle of the last century often have little or no insulation in the walls, or batts that have slumped. On hot afternoons, those walls radiate heat into the room.

Existing walls: dense-pack

For closed walls, we usually recommend dense-pack cellulose. We drill a small hole into each stud bay, either from inside or through the siding, fill the cavity at high density and plug the hole. HomeGuide lists dense-pack at $1.60 to $4.20 per square foot. On brick veneer, we work from the inside or through the top and bottom plates when possible.

Open walls: spray foam

During a remodel, addition or new build, open stud bays can be sprayed with foam. Open-cell fills the cavity at a lower cost; closed-cell adds more R-value per inch and some rigidity. Fixr lists spray foam in new-construction walls at $2.75 to $6.50 per square foot and in existing walls at $3.15 to $7.50. Kentucky's code lists R-13 for wood-frame walls in Climate Zone 4.

Before we drill

We check for old wiring, especially in houses built before the 1960s, and look for signs of water getting into the walls. Insulation should not cover wiring that needs replacement, and it should not go into a wall that leaks.

Exterior walls of garages and bonus rooms

Walls between the house and a garage, and the kneewalls around bonus rooms, are often under-insulated in newer homes as well. Those are quick wins. Get a free estimate