Insulation Contractor in Saint Paul, MN - Warmer Upstairs Rooms in Older Homes
Thermal Burnsville Insulation Company seals and insulates attics, walls and crawl spaces in Saint Paul houses, so drafty rooms, a hot upstairs and cold floors get fixed at the source instead of covered over.
Older houses and small shops across Saint Paul
Saint Paul is mostly older houses set close together, single-family homes and duplexes on tight lots, with small shops and offices mixed in along the main streets. Our calls here usually come from homeowners with a hot upstairs, a drafty room over the garage or a power bill that keeps creeping up. Some come from people who run a small commercial building.
The houses look a lot like the ones we work on across the river in Minneapolis, and they need the same thing from us. Most attics here already have something in them, just not enough of it or not in the right places.
Insulating a house in Saint Paul: what to know first
Permits in Saint Paul go through the city's Department of Safety and Inspections, and the city decides whether your insulation job needs one. When it does, the work waits until the permit is issued, so on those jobs the city's timing sets our start date. Before you hire anyone, ask for their state license or registration and their Saint Paul contractor license, because the city wants a contractor who works one specialty, the way an insulation crew often does, to hold its own license on top of the state's. You can look up the state side through the state's residential contractor licensing page. We're licensed and fully insured, and I'm glad to show you.
On our end, I check with the city before any Saint Paul job starts. We take care of the permit when a job calls for one, and if there's an inspection, we set it up and I meet the inspector. We're an insulation contractor based in Burnsville, MN, and the same crew that works in Savage and Eagan comes up here. The price here mostly turns on what's already in your attic: how many inches are up there, whether old material has to come out, and how hard the space is to reach behind knee walls, the short side walls in upstairs rooms. The schedule turns on the same things plus the permit, and your estimate gives you the price for your house.
Services in Saint Paul, MN
Attic air sealing
In the Saint Paul attics we open, the drafts usually come through gaps around old light fixtures, plumbing pipes, chimneys and the attic hatch more than through thin insulation. We seal those openings with foam and caulk before any insulation goes down, so the new layer isn't fighting a draft.
Attic insulation
Most attics here already have a few inches of old insulation, and it's often thinnest at the edges where the roof meets the walls, which is backward. We top it up with blown-in insulation, loose fill blown through a hose, to an even depth right out to the edges, and we keep the vents at the eaves open while we do it.
Insulation removal
In older houses we sometimes find insulation that got soaked by an old roof leak or is full of droppings from mice or squirrels. We vacuum it out and clean the attic floor before anything new goes in, because covering it over leaves the problem right where it was.
Wall insulation
A lot of older Saint Paul walls are hollow, or the insulation inside has slumped to the bottom, and that's often why one room stays cold however you set the heat. We fill those walls through small holes and patch them afterward, so you don't have to tear out plaster to get the room comfortable.
Crawl space insulation
Additions and porches that were turned into rooms often sit over a shallow crawl space, and that's usually where the cold floors in those rooms come from. Our crawl space insulation work seals the gaps along the top of the foundation and insulates the space, so the floor above stops pulling in cold air.
Commercial insulation
Some of our Saint Paul calls come from people who run small shops and offices in older buildings, where the heating bill climbs and a few rooms never feel right. We look at the roof space and walls the same way we would on a house, seal first and insulate second, and we plan the work around your business hours.
What older Saint Paul houses ask of an attic
Many of the older houses here have a finished upstairs tucked under the roof, with small attic pockets behind the knee walls and over the ceiling. Those pockets are where a hot or drafty upstairs usually starts. We seal the gaps along their floors and walls first and then insulate them, instead of piling more on the open attic and missing the rooms that feel worst.
Older attics also hide old problems. If the insulation up there got wet or is full of droppings, new material over it just buries the trouble, so we take it out first. If the roof is still leaking, I'll tell you to get that fixed before we come back.
Get an insulation estimate for your Saint Paul house
Send this and we'll reply within one business day to set a time. I'll come out to your Saint Paul house, look at the attic and anything that has to be handled first, and leave you a free on-site estimate. There's no obligation and no pressure to book.
How a Saint Paul job goes
Call or send a message
Call (952) 234-9016 or use the form, and we'll get back to you and set a time for me to come out. Tell us what you're noticing, like a hot upstairs or a cold floor, so I know where to look first.
I look at the space
I come out myself, go up in the attic or down in the crawl space, and check for wet insulation, leaks or anything another trade should fix first. You get the price before anyone starts work, and it helps if you're home so I can show you what I found.
Our crew does the install
Our install crew does the work the way we planned it at the estimate, sealing the gaps first and insulating second. If your job needs a permit, the start date follows the city's timing on it.
We walk the finished job
When the crew is done, I walk the finished job with you and show you the sealed gaps and the new insulation. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Saint Paul insulation questions answered
Do I need a permit to add insulation to my house in Saint Paul?
The city makes that call, so check with it before work starts. We do that check for you on every job here. Saint Paul wants a building permit for remodeling or repair work, and for minor alterations beyond normal maintenance when labor and materials together come to more than $500.00, or when state or city code calls for one. The city spells this out in its guide to when a permit is required. That dollar line is low enough that I'd rather ask than guess.
Can I insulate my own house in Saint Paul without a license?
Yes. Saint Paul doesn't require a license for owners doing their own building or remodeling work. If the job needs a permit, the homesteader of a single or two-family house can apply for it, and whoever holds the permit is responsible for getting the work done to code and inspected. If you'd rather do it yourself, I'm still glad to tell you what order to do it in.
Does my house in a Saint Paul heritage district need extra approval for insulation?
It can, if the work touches the outside of the house. In a Heritage Preservation District or Site, exterior work or repairs that need a building permit also need approval from the Heritage Preservation Commission, and that matters most for wall insulation put in from the outside. If you're in one of those districts, tell me at the estimate so we can plan the wall work around it.
How much does it cost to insulate an attic in Saint Paul?
Your price comes from what your attic needs, so I give you a figure after I've been up there and looked. The biggest choice is foam versus loose fill. Spray foam costs more because it seals air while it insulates, but in most attics we see here, sealing the gaps and topping up with blown-in insulation is the better use of your money, unless your ductwork runs through the attic.
How long does attic insulation take in Saint Paul, and do we have to leave the house?
A blown-in top-up is usually a shorter, simpler job than one where old insulation comes out first, and with loose fill most people stay home while we work. Spray foam is the exception, because everyone, kids and pets included, stays out until it's ready. I give you that re-entry time, meaning when it's safe to come back inside, before we book the day.
How do I know if my Saint Paul attic needs more insulation?
If you can see the tops of the ceiling joists, the wooden beams across the attic floor, there usually isn't enough insulation up there. Also look for thin spots near the edges, dark streaks where air has been moving through the insulation, and wet or matted patches, because those mean sealing or removal comes first. If you'd rather not climb up, I'll check it at the estimate.
Get your Saint Paul attic looked at
Call (952) 234-9016 or send the form, and tell us which room bothers you most, because that room usually points me straight to the leak.
