Hot upstairs and a power bill that climbs all summer? We put closed-cell foam where it pays off and tell you where it won't.
Closed-cell foam insulation is a spray foam that sets into a hard, rigid layer. In Longview homes it seals air leaks, insulates and keeps moisture out in one pass, and it usually earns its price on the roof deck when your ducts and air handler sit in the attic.
Most calls start with an upstairs that won't cool off or a power bill that climbs all summer, and plenty of folks have never been up in their own attic, which is fine, since that's what I'm for. The price mostly turns on how much area we spray, how thick, how easy the space is to work in, and whether old insulation that's wet or full of droppings has to come out first with our insulation removal work. The schedule turns on that same prep and on what the city asks for, which we check before we start, and your estimate spells out which areas and which materials the job covers.
I come out to look at the attic, walls or crawl space and write the estimate myself, because I'd rather you hear the trade-offs from the person putting the numbers together. Then our own crew lead and installers do the spraying, not a crew we hired for the day.
I started with weekend jobs for neighbors around Longview, blowing insulation and sealing drafty houses, and made it my full-time work in 2013. I learned by doing and by asking a lot of questions, and I'll still tell you straight when something isn't worth the money.
We're licensed and fully insured, and you're welcome to ask about it before we start. When you call (903) 309-1886 or fill out our estimate request form, tell us where your heating and cooling equipment sits and which areas you want insulated.
We reply within one business day, and a lot of the time I'm the one calling you back. We'll set a time for me to come out for a free estimate at your house, with no pressure and no obligation. You get a written plan for the areas and materials, and you decide from there.
The city's building office decides what a foam job in Longview needs, and I won't guess on whether yours needs a permit, so we check with the city before work starts and, if one's needed, we take care of it and tell you up front. The building office also keeps third-party energy reports for insulation and ductwork among its forms, so when a job calls for one, we plan the work around that inspection. Cities can make their own changes to the state energy code, which is one more reason we ask Longview instead of assuming. Most of the city sits in Gregg County, with a small piece of the east side reaching into Harrison County, so we confirm where your address falls before we ask about the job.
Around Longview we see a lot of houses with the ducts and air handler in an attic that bakes all summer, plus shops and metal buildings that hold heat like an oven. We're based here and do the same work in the cities around us across East Texas, including White Oak, Kilgore and Tyler.
Closed-cell costs more to install because it expands less, so it takes more material to fill the same space. If you're comparing bids for the same area, expect the closed-cell one to be higher. Your own number comes from the estimate, once I've seen what we'd be spraying.
Usually yes, because federal guidance says sealing and insulating at the roof deck has particularly large advantages over insulating the attic floor and ductwork when the heating and cooling equipment is up there. That makes where the foam goes the first decision, and we settle it together at the estimate.
There's no single wait time that fits every job, so we tell you for yours before spray day. Federal guidance calls the chemicals in uncured foam well-known skin and breathing sensitizers that can cause asthma and lung damage, so the time to be away is while the foam is going on and setting. That's why we keep the work area ventilated, and we'll go over when the kids and pets can come back.
If you're pulling a homestead exempt permit yourself, you contact the city's Development Services office in person or by phone, since the online portal is set up for contractors and design professionals. If we're doing the job, we check with the city for you and handle any permit it asks for.
Both closed-cell and open-cell foam are made from organic materials and are considered combustible. So it's fair to ask how foam in your attic or living space will be covered or finished, and we walk through that for each area we'd spray.
