Do You Need New Insulation When Replacing A Roof?
The Benefits of Upgrading Your Insulation During a Roof Replacement
You have no doubt noticed how the standards of energy-efficiency creep ever higher. While your home was up-to-code ten, twenty, thirty years ago when it was built, there is virtually no chance that your home is as energy-efficient as a new one built to today’s standards.
This is further complicated by the fact that insulation compacts over time, reducing its insulation value (R-value). And it is especially true for houses that were built before air conditioning became widely available, because those houses were never sealed as tightly as modern ones. Proper sealing is probably the most efficient method of keeping your living space comfortable. You can insulate all you like, but if it’s not sealed, it’s exactly like having a window draft in your walls and ceilings.
Without major renovations, there’s little you can do about poor sealing behind your walls. You can caulk your windows, door frames and baseboards, but that’s as much as you can do without going through the sheetrock.
However, there is one extremely effective method of making your home more energy efficient that is often overlooked.
Why Upgrading the Insulation in Your Attic Space is Such A Good Idea
If you’ve ever been up in your attic, you know how miserable it is. Most of the time it’s terribly hot, except when it’s dank and cold. Of course, the attic is a heat sink from the sun. Your shingles are dark, and they’re exposed to the sun constantly. The heat sinks into the roof and warms the air in the attic.
Now, what prevents the heat from moving even further down into your living space?
The insulation!
It’s a common misconception that insulation prevents heat transfer. That’s simply not true. It slows heat transfer. All the air pockets in insulation slow the movement of air the same way that your fleece sweater keeps you warm — in this case, the fleece holds the warmth from your body close to it, rather than letting it escape.
But when insulation becomes compressed, it loses its ability to slow that transfer of heat. Plus, new construction codes require much more insulation than in previous decades. Insulation is a lot cheaper than ongoing heating and cooling costs, and you’re crushing the single largest source of conditioned air loss.
With any renovation job, the most expensive part of the job is the labor. And attics are particularly bad — it’s a very tight space, the workers have to be very careful not to fall and accidentally put a foot through your ceiling, and there’s usually just one tiny access that’s not very handy for getting equipment up through. All those inconveniences really add to the man-hours required to do the job.
But do you know what makes accessing the attic space really easy?
If the roof is off.
When the shingles come off, we can lift the decking in a few strategic places and install the new insulation in no time, flat. We can even inspect for signs of mold, remove the old insulation and reseal the attic floor if necessary.
It’s like BOGO for home renovations: two upgrades that increase the value of your house enormously. Call Style Roofing for details: 703-754-9906
