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During the extreme temperature differences in the Wisconsin summers and winters, you may notice comfort problems in your home. Exterior wall insulation and air sealing upgrades help further air seal and insulate your home, protecting it from the outdoor elements while lowering your monthly heating and cooling bills.
At Accurate-Airtight Exteriors, we insulate exterior walls of homes throughout the greater Madison, WI area to keep you comfortable and help you save money.
UPGRADE YOUR HOME TODAY WITH ACCURATE-AIRTIGHT EXTERIORS
The Benefits of Dense Pack Wall Insulation
In older homes, there is typically little to no insulation in the exterior wall cavities. This exposes the inside of your home to outdoor temperatures, creating energy loss and an uncomfortable home. An effective remedy is to dense pack cellulose insulation into each exterior wall cavity to further air seal and insulate.
Dense packed cellulose insulation has a few benefits over other insulation materials. Insulators such as fiberglass batting often used in exterior walls are porous, meaning air can still flow through them. When exposed to moving air, the insulating value of fiberglass batts is weakened, causing energy loss, higher heating and cooling bills, and lower comfort.
When cellulose is installed and dense packed into exterior wall cavities (typically around 3.5 pounds per square foot of pressure), it becomes hard like a mattress, reducing airflow within the cavities and stopping air leakage through penetrations such as outlets, switches, nails, and screws.
Not only does the cellulose help air seal each cavity, but it also insulates well. Dense packed cellulose insulation can also deter potential pest intrusion due to the embedded borates. Dense packed cellulose has an approximate R-Value of 3.5 per inch, while fiberglass performs at about an R 3.2 per inch if it is air sealed as well, which is quite challenging.
When Is the Best Time to Schedule Exterior Wall Insulation Installation?
Upgrading the insulation in exterior sidewalls is a multi-step process for our team:
Temporarily remove the exterior siding
Cut through any materials behind it
Drill holes through the wall sheathing into each wall cavity
Dense packing each cavity with cellulose insulation
The spring and summer weather is the best time to complete such a project due to having to work with possibly fragile siding materials. Major siding removal should ideally be done in warmer weather so it will not crack, bend, or snap during removal and re-installation. Siding is often temporarily removed to dense pack exterior wall cavities.
This home improvement project can also be done during a re-siding project. If a siding contractor is to re-side your home, the exterior wall cavities can be drilled into and filled easier and cheaper while the siding is off already. Additional continuous insulation such as rigid foam board and house wrap can be installed as well in these cases (Accurate-Airtight Exteriors also repairs house wrap and installs rigid foam board to the interior or exterior of homes).
Contact Your Local Insulation and Air Sealing Experts to Learn More
At Accurate-Airtight Exteriors, we strive to offer different insulation and air sealing options for homeowners. For
instance, with homes that are being demoed or remodeled and exposing exterior wall cavities, two part closed cell spray foam insulation can be installed to achieve higher R-values per inch. But no matter what insulation material you choose, our team will install it right.
Whether you want to further improve your home this upcoming year or just get more information about it, call Accurate-Airtight Exteriors for all of your consulting and contracting needs! With our home energy audit, we can show you the exact areas where upgrades are needed in your home, and pinpoint the services that will benefit you and your family the most.