Insulation contractor in Savage, MN - attics sealed first, then insulated
Thermal Burnsville Insulation Company seals and insulates attics, walls, basements and rooms over the garage in Savage, MN. We're based next door in Burnsville and fix the drafty rooms and high heating bills Savage homeowners call about.
Houses and small buildings across Savage
Savage has older houses, newer neighborhoods with a bonus room over the garage, and a few small commercial buildings, and we get calls from all of them. We're an insulation contractor in Burnsville, MN, so Burnsville and Savage are both close to home for us, and we head down to Lakeville just as often.
The age of the house decides most of what I find in the attic. Older ones usually have a thin, settled layer and open gaps around the hatch and pipes, while newer ones have more up there but a cold room over the garage, so the job starts with what kind of house you have.
Working in Savage: permits, licenses and what sets the price
Building work in Savage follows the state building code, and permits come from the building official, who is the one you or your contractor apply to before altering or repairing a building. We check with the city before we start and take care of the permit when a job calls for one, and if there's an inspection we set it up and meet the inspector, so a permit, when one's needed, is often what sets the start date. On the contractor side, the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry requires a residential building contractor or remodeler license when someone contracts directly with you for work in more than one special skill on a home of one to four units, while a contractor who does only one skill doesn't need that license. We're licensed and fully insured.
What moves the price is mostly what I find up there, like how big the attic is, how many inches are already down, whether old material has to come out and how many gaps need sealing. The schedule turns on the same visit, because a roof leak or a damp wall has to be handled before anything new goes in, and I'd rather tell you to call a roofer first than sell you insulation that won't help. The estimate I leave gives you the figure for your own house, and we work the same way in Richfield and the other cities around us.
Services in Savage, MN
Attic air sealing
Most drafty upstairs rooms we see in Savage trace back to gaps around can lights, plumbing pipes and the attic hatch. We close those gaps before any insulation goes in, so the new layer isn't fighting a draft.
Attic insulation
Older Savage attics often have insulation piled deep in the middle and thin at the edges, which is backward, because the edges over the walls are where heat gets out. We blow in loose fill, which goes in through a hose, evenly out to the eaves.
Insulation removal
When the old insulation got soaked by a past roof leak or is full of droppings, new material laid on top just keeps the problem in your attic. We pull the old layer out and clean up before anything new goes down.
Wall insulation
Some older houses here have walls with little or nothing in them, and you feel it as one cold room on the windy side of the house. Our wall insulation work fills those cavities, and I'll tell you first if a wall is damp, because insulating a wet wall only hides it.
Spray foam insulation
The room over the garage in newer Savage homes is usually the coldest one in the house, because its floor sits over unheated space. Spray foam seals and insulates in one pass there, so it earns its higher cost in that spot more than it would across a whole attic.
Basement insulation
Cold floors upstairs often start at the rim joist, the band of wood sitting on top of the foundation wall. We seal and insulate that band, since it's one of the leakiest spots in most basements we open up.
What Savage houses need from their attics
Most of the ice dam calls we get start with warm air leaking out of the house into the attic, where it melts snow on the roof and the water refreezes at the cold edge. Piling on more insulation won't stop that if the leaks stay open, so we seal first and then insulate. We also keep the eave vents clear, because a buried vent stops the attic from breathing and the moisture ends up in the framing.
Older houses that have had an addition or two often have spots where the old framing meets the new and nobody sealed the joint. I look for those on the first visit, since that's usually where the draft you've been chasing comes from.
Get a free on-site insulation estimate for your Savage home
Send the form and you'll hear back from us within one business day to set a time. I come out to your Savage house, look at the attic and anything else that's bothering you, and leave you a free estimate with no obligation to book.
How a Savage job goes
Call or send a message
Call (952) 234-9016 or use the form, and tell us what you're noticing, like a hot upstairs or a high power bill. We get back to you to pick a time for me to come out.
I look at the space
I go up in the attic or down in the crawl space and check for anything that has to be fixed first, like a leak, wet insulation or buried vents. The price comes from what I see in person, not a guess over the phone, and it helps if you're home to show me the rooms that bother you.
Our crew does the work
If the job needs a permit, we take care of it first and set up any inspection, and the start date waits on that. Our install crew then does the work the way we planned it at the estimate.
We walk the job together
Before we leave, I walk the finished job with you and show you what we sealed and how deep the insulation runs to the edges. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Savage insulation questions answered
Is spray foam worth the extra cost for an attic in Savage?
Usually not for a whole attic. Foam costs more, and it seals air while it insulates, but sealing the gaps and topping up with loose fill usually gets you most of the way for less. The exception is when your ductwork runs through the attic, because then foam is often the better pick.
Does opening a wall to insulate it count as an ordinary repair in Minnesota?
No. Under state rules, ordinary repairs that skip the building official don't include opening or removing walls, changing electrical wiring or cutting into structural framing. So if your wall job means opening up drywall, we check with the city about a permit before we start.
How do I check an insulation contractor's license in Minnesota?
Look the company up in the state's license and registration lookup, where a current, active license shows a status of "Issued." Residential contractor and remodeler licenses run April 1 through March 31, so make sure the status is current for this year.
How long do we have to stay out of the house after spray foam?
The foam maker sets the re-entry time, which is when it's safe to come back inside, and we go over it with you at the estimate so you can plan for kids and pets. With loose fill blown into the attic, most families stay home while we work.
Can I insulate my three-season porch in Savage and heat it?
You can, but it's more than an insulation job. State guidance says building a porch takes a permit and a heated porch may have to meet the Minnesota Energy Code, so we check with the city before we quote it.
What causes the upstairs to get so hot in summer in a Savage house?
Usually it's a thin attic layer and open gaps letting attic heat down into the rooms below. It's the same problem behind cold rooms in winter, so sealing the gaps and evening out the insulation helps in both seasons.
Have your Savage attic looked at
We answer the phone into the evening on weekdays and on weekends too, so call (952) 234-9016 or use the form when it suits you.
