Retrofit insulation in Yakima WA - warm rooms in the house you already have
Drafty rooms, a hot upstairs or a high power bill? We seal the leaks and add insulation without gutting your walls.
- Licensed and insured.
- Free on-site estimates.
- Replies within 1 business day.
How do you add insulation to a house that's already built?
Retrofit insulation in Yakima means adding insulation to a house that's already standing, by topping up the attic, insulating floors and crawl spaces, and blowing loose fill into the walls through small holes near the top of each wall bay. Done together with air sealing, it makes the house cheaper to heat and cool.
Most calls I get for this start with a room that won't warm up, an upstairs that's too hot, or a power bill that keeps climbing in a house built before anyone worried much about insulation. The price comes down to how many parts of the house we're insulating, how easy the attic is to get into, and how much has to be sealed, blocked or cleaned out before new material goes in. The schedule turns on what I find, because old wiring, damp spots or old fill get dealt with before the crew starts. I'll walk you through what I see and write it all up in your estimate.
How do you know your older house needs more insulation?
Cold rooms and drafty floors
If a room never warms up or the floors stay cold all winter, the walls or the floor below are usually thin on insulation and the house is leaking air at the gaps. Every winter you wait, you're paying to heat air that slips right back out.
A hot upstairs in summer
When the upstairs or the room over the garage stays hot long after sundown, heat from the attic is usually soaking through a thin layer of fill. Waiting means the cooling runs longer every afternoon and still doesn't catch up.
Thin or uneven attic fill
If you can see the tops of the ceiling joists, the wood framing up there, or the fill is deep in the middle and thin at the edges, it isn't doing its job. Water stains, droppings or matted spots mean the old material may need to come out first, and that only gets worse with time.
How we handle retrofit insulation on an older house
Before we open anything up, I look for old wiring and old fill, because older homes hide both and either one changes the plan. Then our crew air seals the attic floor, closing the gaps around pipes, wires, can lights and the hatch, since insulation slows heat but does nothing to stop air pushing through. Big holes and open soffits get solid blocking, hot flues get metal blocking and a collar, certain recessed lights get covers, and we keep the eave vents clear so the attic can still breathe. Only then does the insulation go in, even all the way out to the edges, and a well sealed, well insulated attic can also help keep ice dams from forming. For walls, we blow loose fill into each wall bay through small holes near the top.
Most retrofit jobs start overhead, so this work runs right alongside our attic insulation, and a few houses are better served by spray foam insulation. Foam costs more and seals air in the same coat that insulates, so I usually recommend sealing the gaps and topping up loose fill instead, unless your ductwork runs through the attic, which is where foam earns its price.
Attic sealing and top-up
This suits most older houses that already have a few inches up there but not enough. We seal first and add loose fill over what's there when it's clean and dry, which keeps the cost down.
Blown-in wall cavities
This suits houses with empty or nearly empty walls, which we find often in older homes. The fill goes in through small holes in each bay, from inside or outside depending on whether new siding is coming.
Foam where the ducts run
This suits attics with ductwork running through them, where loose fill can't wrap the ducts well and sealing every joint by hand is slow. It costs more, so we use it where it pays its way rather than across the whole house.
Get a retrofit insulation estimate for your house
We get back to you within one business day to set a time. I come out, look over your attic, crawl space and walls, and write up a free estimate, with no pressure and no obligation.
- Based in
- Yakima, WA 98901
- Hours
- Mon–Fri: 8 AM–9 PM, Sat–Sun: 6 AM–9 PM
What happens after you call us about retrofit insulation?
Here's how a retrofit job runs from your first call to the final walkthrough, and who you'll be dealing with at each step.
Call or send the form
Reach us at (509) 517-6081 or through the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. A rough idea of when the house was built helps, since it tells me what to look for.
I look and write the estimate
I come out myself, get into the attic, crawl space and walls, and explain what I see before I write anything down. The estimate shows what has to be fixed first and what each part of the job costs, so you can decide where to start without guessing.
Prep and sealing go first
Our crew handles the blocking, covers and air sealing before any insulation goes in. I'm on site checking that work as it goes, because it's the part you can't see once the fill is down.
Insulation, then a walkthrough
The insulation goes in last, evenly and out to the edges. Before we leave, I go over the finished work with you so you know exactly what's up there.
Why Yakima homeowners call C&D Yakima Insulation Solutions for retrofit work
I see every job myself
I come out to look at each house and write the estimate, and I'm back on site checking the work while our crew installs. Satisfaction guaranteed on every job.
Framing carpenter before insulation
I framed houses for years before starting this business in 2017, so I know where an older house hides gaps, chases and odd framing. That's where most retrofit jobs go wrong, and it's where we start.
Licensed, insured, easy to check
We're licensed and insured, and Washington requires every construction contractor to register with the state Department of Labor & Industries. The state's contractor Verify tool shows whether a registration is active and the workers' comp account is paid up, so look up anyone before you hire them.
If you'd like me to look at your attic and walls before you decide anything, send us a note or call (509) 517-6081.
Retrofit insulation, siding work and permits in Yakima
The City of Yakima lets you apply for, pay for and get permits that need no plan review straight from its online permit portal, and that list names residential re-siding and tear-off reroofs but not insulation. So the list alone doesn't settle whether your insulation job needs a permit. If it does, we take care of the application with the city or county office that covers your address, and if we're not sure yet, I'll tell you that up front and find out before the crew starts. If you're re-siding while we insulate the walls from outside, the siding part is on the city's list.
Plenty of the houses we work in around Yakima are older, with one thin layer of fill in the attic, walls that never got any, and a room over the garage that never quite warms up. We meet the same kinds of houses on jobs in Selah and Terrace Heights, and we treat them the same way, checking what's already in the walls and ceiling before anything new goes in.
Questions about retrofit insulation in Yakima
How much does retrofit insulation cost in Yakima?
It depends on your house, and I can't give you a fair number until I've seen it. Walls usually cost more than an attic top-up because every bay gets drilled and filled, foam costs more than loose fill, and old material that has to come out adds to the job. Your estimate puts a figure on each part so you can choose what to do first.
What is the best way to insulate existing walls, from inside or outside?
If you're re-siding soon, outside is usually the better time, because the siding is coming off anyway. Blowing insulation in from outside cuts through the drainage plane, the layer behind the siding that sheds water, so it has to be patched or replaced, while working from inside leaves it alone. If the siding is staying, going in from inside avoids that, and we'll talk through the patching either way.
How much can adding insulation save on my power bill?
The Department of Energy's homeowner guide puts the average at up to 15% off heating and cooling costs when you add insulation to the attic, floors, crawl spaces and basement rim joists and seal the air leaks too. That figure comes from treating the house as one project, so sealing and insulating together matters more than piling extra fill in one spot. What your house saves depends on what's there now.
What should I do if my attic has vermiculite insulation?
Leave it alone, because the EPA says to assume vermiculite may contain asbestos and recommends not disturbing it. If you decide to have it removed, the EPA recommends a trained, accredited asbestos abatement contractor that's separate from whoever assessed it. Since I'd be the one who looked at it, mention it when you call and we'll plan around it.
How do I get weatherization help with insulation in Yakima?
Call the local agency for your side of Union Gap, OIC of Washington at 509-452-7145 if you're north of it or Yakima Valley Farm Workers at 509-865-7630 if you're south of it. The state weatherization program is open to homeowners and renters earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level, 60% of the state median income or 80% of the area median income. If you might qualify, it's worth checking with them before you hire anyone.
Can you insulate an older Yakima house that still has knob and tube wiring?
Not around the knob and tube itself, because the National Electrical Code bars insulation on or around that early style of wiring. We leave those spaces alone until an electrician has dealt with it, then insulate. If the house was built before 1980, lead safety rules may also apply, depending on how much of the walls gets disturbed.
Insulation work that often goes with a retrofit
Spray foam insulation
Sprayed straight onto the roof deck or framing, it suits spaces where ducts or odd framing make loose fill hard to place and seal well.
Attic insulation
When the upstairs runs hot or cold, the attic is usually the place to start, sealed first and filled evenly out to the edges.
Cities where we do retrofit insulation
C&D Yakima Insulation Solutions is based in Yakima, Washington, and we do retrofit work across the city and the cities around it, including Union Gap and Toppenish. Eight cities, Yakima among them, have their own pages below. If yours isn't one of them, call and ask.
Have your attic and walls looked at
Tell us the age of your house, where the attic hatch is, and whether you know of vermiculite or old wiring up there, so I come out ready for what's in your walls and ceiling.