Attic Insulation Removal And Replacement: Aspects To Know 2023

If the insulation material happens to be damaged, you will need the attic insulation removal and replacement. Pests and excessive moisture can spoil insulation, thus affect the air quality and result in an energy drain.

We suggest that if you don’t have enough knowledge and experience, you will need to hire an insulation installation organization, which will evaluate your house, see the specific issue places and solutions and provide the most qualified service for your accommodation.

Water Leaks And Damages

If you have dealt with a water leak or damage in your house, it can spoil the fiber-based insulation of your home. Of course, the later materials can resist moisture, but older and more classical materials will suffer from it.

Of course, the insulation will work worse after getting wet. Moreover, it can cause the appearance of mildew and mold in the attic.

With the appearance of fungi in the ducts of heating and air conditioning units in attic, allergies can become worse, as well as other types of respiratory distress.

In order to make the air in your house healthier and cleaner, you will need to remove your old insulation and replace it with a brand new material.

The attic insulation removal, as we can see, is important not only if it was damaged by water. Below you can see other things which require insulation removal.

Rodents And Other Pests Infestation

A lot of kinds of pests and rodents can come to your attic and affect the insulation. Rodents enjoy insulation materials most of all: they can live inside, they destroy it to pieces and use it for their nests and use the insulation as a toilet as well.

In addition to this, such rodents as rats can carry a lot of diseases, which are dangerous for people.

Such unpleasant things as urine and droppings can be in your insulation layer. The first thing that you need to do is to get rid of your pests or rodents, make it impossible for them to come back.

Only after that you can remove the old layer, organize decontamination and then put a new layer of insulation.

How To Increase Your House Energy Efficiency

Your home can lose energy efficiency if the thermal barrier is destroyed in some spots. Such kinds of insulation as cellulose and foam work well if their density is high enough to resist the moves of heat.

When it becomes compressed, it loses its quality and is affected by temperature shifts. In this situation, warm air will leave your house in cold temperatures and stay in hot temperatures.

You should pay attention to this aspect especially if you notice the rise in your energy bills.

VIDEO THAT WILL HELP YOU: Attic Insulation Removal And Replacement

In the video, you can find complete information about how to make insulation removal and attic cleaning.

How Professional Insulation Removal Is Held

Usually, professional companies use high-quality equipment to remove the insulation in your attic. Specialists take into account that cellulose insulation is dusty and smelly, so they take all the needed precautions before repair works.

Removing blown-in insulation has to be done carefully since it has a fire hazard and, besides, can affect the air conditions.

We won’t describe in particular how to remove blown-in insulation, but it doesn’t differ much from the way to remove any type of material.

But we think that to remove blown-in insulation, you need to call a professional company that will do it easily with the use of special tools and doesn’t take much time.

The easiest material in removal is blanket-type fiberglass. The material is hand-rolled and wrapped in order not to make contaminants airborne. After that, all the areas are cleaned up.

Usually, specialists work with professional vacuum cleaners.

If your insulation is cellulose or paper-type, it is usually raked, damaged, and then vacuumed to be taken out of your house.  When the old material is taken away, the whole space is deodorized and disinfected with a special tool.

Is It Essential To Remove Insulation

If you call a specialist insulation organization to do the removal, you won’t need additional services.

A thing you should also know is that total removal isn’t vital and you can just put a fresh layer of insulation onto the old one.

However, in this case, you should remember that if you have fungi or any other mold and mildew, it can move to a new layer also. In order not to make this mistake, it’s better to invite specialists who offer full investigation.

Sometimes you don’t need to remove all the insulation but just a small part. It’s also can be done by professionals who will see what you need to remove and do this accurate procedure.

Installing New Layers of Insulation

How much does attic insulation removal cost? If you organize your house insulation and air sealing correctly, it will save you a large sum of money on air conditioning and heating bills. The range of materials you can use is very wide. To navigate how much material to buy and how much it costs, use this calculator: What Is an Attic Insulation Calculator.

Another good feature is that installing a new layer of insulation takes less than a day, but the result if properly achieved will make you glad for many years.

What You Should Know About Pest Control Insulation Or Cellulose Insulation

Cellulose insulation happens to be shredded paper covered with a fire retardant chemical called borate. The material is created by breaking down the paper into its basic elements, which are cellular fibers taken from a tree.

These fibers are responsible for insulating power.

In order to install these fibers, specialists use the machine named an insulation blower. During the process, the cellulose fibers are blown into the area through a long hose.

The installer can control the density of installed insulation.

This way of installation also lets to make a continuous and steady layer of insulation. Pipes and wires can’t be a problem since small parts of cellulose insulation neatly fill the space around the obstacles.

The Disadvantages of Cellulose

• Cellulose settles for one-fifth a year, therefore, it loses its energy-saving qualities rather quickly;
• Such features as the fire retardant and pest inhibitors will slowly erode. Besides, fire rating is affected by moisture and humidity in the insulation;
• The material is usually enjoyed by different types of rodents, who use it to create their nests;
• The installation is not very expensive, but you will have to pay a lot more in order to remove it than any other material.

Below you will see how to remove insulation from the attic. As we can see, there are two most common types of insulation: the cellulose one and the fiberglass one.

Their ways of removing are different, though there are several standard precautions, which cover any type of repair works.

How To Remove Cellulose Insulation

If you have decided to do it yourself, try to stick to the following steps we describe in this review:

1. You should wear gloves and a mask to save your skin and face from cellulose dust;
2. Don’t try to remove cellulose by hand or by any other tool except a high-powered bucket vacuum;
3. Before the start, put the plastic or a cloth over all of your furniture and other equipment in your house. The dust can get to any living space of your house;
4. Prepare special large bags to put the removed cellulose into them. When putting cellulose into the bag, let all the air out and close it tightly;
5. Usually, with the correct equipment, the cellulose insulation removal takes from eight to ten hours.

How Fiberglass Batt Insulation Is Removed

Removing fiberglass insulation is different from cellulose insulation removal, so we have decided to describe the main things for you:

1. You should use long sleeves, paper masks and goggles to make sure you don’t harm your skin, face, eyes and other parts of your body;
2. Roll up the batts starting with the farthest corner of the area and fold the batts over;
3. Use a large garbage bag to collect the old insulation;
4. The difficulty of the job depends on the pitch of the roof and the whole space of your attic;
5. Fiberglass insulation removal usually takes from five to eight hours.

In Closing

So, as we have described in the article, removing the attic insulation is necessary in various situations, but when it has been damaged and doesn’t work well.

We think that if you don’t have enough experience, you can hire a group of specialists who will do it for you rather quickly, will through away the old material and even can clean up for you if you need it.

However, you can do it yourself if you get prepared well. We have mentioned how you can get rid of old insulation, so you won’t have any problems after reading this review.

The ways to remove cellulose insulation and fiberglass insulation are different, so you should study this question according to the type of material you have in your attic.

We again want to mention that you can cope with any kind of insulation yourself.

We hope that having learned all the needed things about insulation removal and replacement you will make the right choice and enjoy the new layer of insulation in your attic for many years.