Blown-in cellulose insulation fills every gap between joists and trusses, so the top floor of a Kanata house keeps its heat. It is the material we quote most often for attic top-ups.
This loose fill starts life as shredded newsprint and cardboard, then gets a borate treatment so it shrugs off flame, mould and bugs. Because a hose carries it, it drapes over wiring and fills crooked bays that a batt would bridge. Low, cluttered attics like those over Beaverbrook bungalows suit it well.
Many attics we open still have the few inches that went in when the house was built. Natural Resources Canada suggests about R-60 for the Ottawa area, which is roughly 17 inches of blown-in cellulose insulation. The bag chart for the product sets the exact depth.
A ruler reading at several spots tells us how many inches already sit there, and the bag count follows from that. Sound old fill stays where it is and is counted in the final R-value.
Fresh cellulose slumps slightly over its first winter. We overfill by the margin the manufacturer lists, so the layer still reads R-60 after it relaxes. Cardboard depth markers stapled to trusses across the attic show the level in the after photos.
Sealing and eave chutes always come before the blown-in cellulose insulation, because both are buried for good once the hose starts. See attic air sealing for the list of gaps we close.
Both materials can reach R-60. Cellulose is denser, so it slows air movement through the layer a little better and needs fewer inches for the same R-value. Fiberglass is lighter, does not hold water and suits attics where a heavier layer is a concern. Our blown-in fiberglass insulation page covers the other side of the comparison.
Across Ontario, blown-in cellulose insulation added to an existing layer runs about $1.25 to $2.50 a square foot of ceiling. For a 1,000 square foot Kanata attic, that often means $1,300 to $2,500. Sealing, chutes and the hatch are priced as their own lines.
Phone (343) 301-5498 for a free attic photo check and a written blown-in cellulose insulation quote. The rest of our attic work is laid out on the Kanata attic insulation home page.
Most Kanata attics get two or three of these done in the same visit, which saves a second trip.
Blown-in fiberglass insulation is loose glass fibre blown through a hose into the attic, where it builds a light, even layer over the ceiling. It does not absorb water and it does not settle much, which makes it a steady choice for an attic that will be left alone for decades.
View Blown-In Fiberglass Insulation
Attic insulation replacement is a clear-out and a refill: the old layer is vacuumed away, the attic is cleaned, and new loose fill goes in to R-60. It is the answer when the existing material is soaked, mouldy, fouled by animals or crushed flat.
View Attic Insulation Replacement
Attic air sealing plugs the holes in your top-floor ceiling where heated indoor air sneaks up under the roof. Loose fill slows heat soaking through drywall, yet air pours through an open hole as if the fill were not there.
View Attic Air Sealing
Attic hatch insulation turns the thin panel in your closet or hallway ceiling into a sealed, insulated door. A bare hatch is often a single layer of drywall resting loosely on a wood frame.
View Attic Hatch Insulation
Attic ventilation lets outside air enter at the soffits and leave near the peak, which keeps the attic close to the outdoor temperature and carries moisture away. A cold, dry attic means snow melts less from below, the roof boards stay sound and the insulation stays dry.
View Attic Ventilation And Baffles
Bonus room insulation fixes the room that sits over an attached garage and never feels like the rest of the house. That room has a cold garage under its floor, short knee walls with attic space behind them and a sloped ceiling under the roof.
View Bonus Room Insulation
Ontario's attic insulation rebate is part of Home Renovation Savings, a joint effort of Enbridge Gas and Save on Energy. It returns money to owners who take a thin attic to R-50 or better.
View Ontario Attic Insulation Rebate
Attic insulation cost in Kanata comes down to four things: square footage, material, the depth already there and whether old fill must come out.
View Attic Insulation CostName the job and the year the house was built, and the office will phone to pick a day.
Two or three lines about the house and its cold rooms make the photo check go faster. Calls go to +1 (343) 301-5498.
