Professional Fiberglass Insulation

You can use some form of fiberglass insulation pretty much anyway in your house that insulation is needed. However, the attic, crawl space, and walls and ceilings are the major areas to be sure you have covered.

But how much insulation to put in each location, how high of an R-value you need there, and whether batts or loose fill is best, all varies.

Anywhere that you have evenly, standardly spaced studs or rafters, batts insulation should fit snug between the wood and fill in the space sufficiently well. But for non-standard spacing, loose fill insulation is often a better choice.

On an attic floor, loose fill insulation is often used because it can be made to fill in spaces more compactly than can batts; but that’s not to say batts can never be used on attic floors either.

In extremely tight spaces, you should consider opting for loose fill; because you never want to squish fiberglass batts insulation to make it fit into cracks and crevices. Of course, we can cut the batts fiberglass and carefully fit it into many small spaces, but in some instances, you almost have to go with loose fill material.

Next, when it comes to walls, you often don’t need as high an R-value as with, say, an attic ceiling. The reason is that the siding, plywood, and drywall with also contribute to the overall R-value of the wall – so an 11 might rise to a 14, for example, when insulation and all other materials are taken together. Plus, heat rises and accumulates at the attic ceiling, trying to escape; but that’s just not the case with walls. But a prevailing wind facing wall could do well to have a little extra R-value added into it.

Finally, your geographic location also affects how much insulation you need. In the L.A. Area, you don’t need as much as in northern Wisconsin or Canada, of course, but you do need enough. And you do want to create a heat envelope that covers the entire house; plus, remember that keeping the cool in and heat out is as much a function of insulation as the opposite.