Insulation & Ventilation

Do you have high energy bills? Do you experience decreased comfort in certain areas of your home? Do you have frost in your attic space or notice increased moisture levels in your attic space? Do you have ice dams on your home, or perhaps have had damage caused by ice dams?

You may not know it, but most of those situations are caused by inefficiencies or defects in your insulation and ventilation systems. Kuhl can help with these problems.

Common List of Problems Caused by Poor Insulation and Ventilation

Here is a common list of problems that are experienced in a home by not having proper insulation and ventilation system.

• Moisture in the attic space due to lack of air sealing, insulation and ventilation.
• Delaminated plywood roof decking due to lack of ventilation.
• Decreased comfort levels in certain parts of the home due to lack of insulation, air sealing or ventilation.
• High energy bills (summer and winter) due to lack of insulation, air sealing and ventilation.
• Ice Dams and Damage from Ice Dams due to lack of insulation, air sealing and ventilation.

The Process

How does Kuhl address these insulation and ventilation issues? Typically we do a thorough diagnostic, building performance inspections. [Click here for more info on our building performance inspections.] From these inspections we glean very valuable information on how the house works as a system. From this holistic viewpoint, it is usually quite evident what is causing the problems experienced by the homeowner. Whether it be missing or too little insulation, a lack of air sealing, insufficient ventilation of the attic space, or even poor homeowner usage of the space, a whole house diagnostic can pinpoint areas to address.

Kuhl also offers basic home performance inspections. Depending on the findings from our building performance inspections, we put together a scope of work to address the problem areas and present to the homeowner.  More often than not, our recommended scope of work to address the problems uncovered by our home performance inspection has to do with the insulation and ventilation system. Therefore, our scope of work often includes insulation and ventilation work. Essentially, we fix the problem. The exact scope of work is different for every home.

Types of Insulation we typically use:

• Fiberglass batting
• Blown in Cellulose
• Densely packed cellulose
• Blown in Fiberglass
• Closed Cell Spray Foam
• Open Cell Spray Foam
• & Rockwool insulation

Types of Ventilation we typically use:

• Try to match what the house already has (if applicable, and effective given situation)
• Metal roof louver vents
• Whirly Bird Vents (although, not that often)
• Continuous ridge venting (Cobra and Country Ridge Vent)
• Continuous soffit vents
• Small rectangular 8” x16” metal soffit vents
• Corrugated soffit paneling
• Vented Drip Edge

Why Use Kuhl for Insulation and Ventilation?

• We are also professional roofers and carpenters; therefore, we have the resources to attack even the most difficult of projects. Story and a half houses, cathedral ceilings, tuck under garages, low slopped or flat roofs – you name it. We’ve dealt with your situation or something very close to it before. Often times, it is far too intrusive to address the insulation from the attic space or from the interior. Having professional roofers on staff, we have the ability to address the insulation, air sealing and ventilation from the roof as well. This is not the first option that we turn to, but we can certainly do that.

• We always try to provide you with options – a good, better, and best scenario (if possible). In this way, you’ve got options at different costs. We’ve found that folks like to have options. We’ll give you options, make minimum recommendations and then let you choose what you think is best.

• We give the most detailed and informative estimates in the Minneapolis area. Have trouble understanding all of those one page estimates that you receive from other contractors? That simply won’t be the case if you receive an estimate from us. We spend a lot of time customizing each estimate, so that the homeowner is aware of exactly what he/she will be getting. Change orders are no fun. If you are given a vague estimate, expect vague results.

• We have a MN state certified energy auditor on staff. His name is Tom. While he looks young, Tom has been in the building industry for almost 20 years. Tom does most of the site visits and initial inspections. He knows what to look for and is constantly increasing his knowledge with useful information on the energy auditing, insulation, and home building industries. Tom knows what to look for and isn’t just on site to take measurements. His goal is to make sure the homeowner has a general understanding of what is going on, what they should look for in an estimate and what the scope of work will look like when it is delivered. Plus, he’s pretty awesome.

• For most of our projects, we include a free state certified audit. This audit qualifies homeowners for rebates from their local utility companies as well as some federal tax credits.  Ask us if your project would include a free audit.

• We don’t pressure you. All that we ask, if you receive an estimate from us, is that you keep us posted, one way or another if we are lucky enough to work for you. We spend an incredible amount of time on our estimates, so this is a common courtesy that we ask.

Here are some helpful Kuhl Case Studies that relate to home insulation and ventilation in Minneapolis:

• Insulation, Ventilation and Ice Dams in Minnesota – Kuhl Case Study #08
• Ice Dam Prevention in Minneapolis – Kuhl Case Study #21