Our Services
Spray Foam Insulation
Looking for a cost-effective solution to a comfortable home environment? Spray foam offers the premier solution to insulate your dream home. Homeowners can enjoy an energy efficient home, outstanding indoor air quality, and absolute comfort using our spray foam insulation solutions. Moreover, spray foam reduces noise transfer from outside and inside the building, reducing noise pollution.
Spray foam can be applied to almost any building substrate, including wood and metal framing, plywood and composite sheeting, metal building panels, concrete, and masonry. Because it fully adheres to the application surface, spray foam offers a long-life installation that never slumps, eliminates wind washing, and maintains its performance over the life of the building.
Spray foam is a non-combustible plastic foam material that is intrinsically resistant to ignition when exposed to sparks or flames. Spray foam can easily be made even more fireresistant with the application of a thin intumescent paint barrier that isolates the installed foam from the heat of a building fire, further increasing the time for occupants to safely escape.
Spray foam insulation contributes to fire-resistant design. When spray foam is applied to provide a conditioned attic volume, roof and attic vents may be deleted from the design. Having no or fewer attic, roof, and eave openings substantially reduces the risk of ember intrusions into unoccupied and unmonitored attic spaces. Ember intrusions into vented attics are a major contributor to the spread of wildfire into homes, which have devastated many and affect most California communities over the past decade.
Spray foam applications typically qualify as an air barrier, which eliminates drafts and air leaks/infiltration, keeping your buildings comfortable, clean, and secure.
Air Sealing
Industry standards and the California Energy Code require that buildings be sealed against air infiltration. The uncontrolled exchange of indoor and outdoor air is the primary cause for energy waste and can lead to buildings that are uncomfortably hot or cold and allow dust and pollution inside. Historically attics, framing around windows and doors, crawlspaces, and basements are notorious problem areas that allow drafts and air leaks. These leaks compromise occupant comfort, are common entry points for pests and insects, and occur in tight and hard-to-reach places. Eliminating these air leaks is our priority, and the best way to improve comfort and save on cooling and heating costs. Spray foam insulation and sealing foams are among the most economical ways to seal your buildings. Our professional technicians offer the best solutions and will provide economical and efficient installation of air sealing measures. In addition, some locations and applications need specialty materials that should be installed by experts.
Fiberglass Insulation
Fiberglass batt and roll insulation is the most common building insulation in use throughout North America. It is a blanket of thin, interwoven glass fibers that fluff and pillow to trap air, which itself an incredible insulator. Fiberglass insulation is also a highly effective sound insulator and excels in increasing acoustic comfort when installed in interior walls, partitions, and ceilings.
Fiberglass insulation is popular as a non-combustible and lowcost building insulation, with a proven performance record over many decades of use. Newer formulations have reduced and mostly eliminated VOCs and formaldehyde, for a safe installation in every building. Because of its low cost, fiberglass is an economical option to improve building performance and comfort, while reducing energy costs.
While relatively straight-forward to install, insulation performs best when installed by knowledgeable experts. Many code requirements, energy credits, and rebate programs require professional installation.
Mineral Wool Insulation
Available in batts and semi-rigid boards, mineral wool insulation is very similar to fiberglass insulation in its form, with some key improvements and benefits. Made using melted stone and slag and spun into fibers much like fiberglass, this higher density of this material offers improved thermal performance compared to fiberglass of the same thickness. This increased density also substantially improves acoustic performance, making mineral wool the ideal product in theatres, studios, or in other applications where sound levels must be mitigated or controlled. Mineral wool insulation is also the premier insulation to choose for fire resistance. Mineral wool itself is effectively fireproof by its nature, and mineral wool “safing” insulation is commonly specified for fire barriers in hotels and multifamily projects, as well as industrial and commercial buildings where fire is a known risk.
Rigid Board Insulation
Rigid board insulation, or foam board insulation, typically refers to 1 of 3 related foam board products: expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene, and polyisocyanurate foams. All 3 comprise stiff, rigid boards that are available in large sheets and in a variety of different thicknesses and R-values.
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is the same foam typically used in the old “disposable” foam coolers you’d find at the supermarket. It is a closed-cell material, that is mostly impervious to air and moisture passage through the board. It is the least expensive foam board, offering up to R-4 per inch of thickness. EPS is available with and without a foil-radiant barrier facing.
Extruded polystyrene (XPS) is polystyrene that is vacuumed-formed into sheets but has the same chemical structure as EPS. The manufacturing process creates smaller, but more abundant closed air cells, that offer improved thermal performance, of up to R-5 per in of thickness. It is more impervious to air and moisture than EPS.
Polyisocyanurate (“polyiso”) is a closed cell foam very closely related to spray foam, only manufactured in ready-made sheets which are almost always faced on both sides, usually with a foil radiant barrier facing. Polyiso has a high thermal resistance, over R-6 per inch of thickness, but is also the most expensive of the 3 foam boards.
Foam board insulation may be installed in a variety of methods, from friction-fit, adhesive attachment, and mechanical fasteners. While the material itself is typically impervious to air and moisture transmission, the joints and seams that occur during installation are not, and these joints are usually must be taped or sealed with foam sealant. In many cases, 2 or more layers of foam board may need to be applied, staggered, to achieve the air seal required by the design or energy code.
Specialty Insulation Products
Each design and project is unique, and not every product is suited for every design or application. Our team will work with our customers and designers to find the best mix of products and services to achieve your project goals, at a price that doesn’t break the bank.
That means we may have to resort to using some specialty insulation products that you may not have even heard of. Our vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers can provide us with a broad range of specialty products to meet the needs of your project.
However, it’s important to note that many specialty products are marketed and sold regionally, and availability may be limited or require large volumes or expensive freight for fulfillment. If your project has any specialty insulation specifications, don’t hesitate to reach out to us early on, even before you bid, so we can work with you to find the right materials at the right prices to make your job go smoothly.
Sustainability and the Environment
According to the US Department of Energy, heating and cooling residential and commercial buildings consumes 40% of the energy used in the United States. In our homes, almost 55% of our energy use goes to heating and cooling. Improving the quality and content of our building insulation is an important step in improving energy efficiency, reducing our energy costs and impacts, and protecting our natural environment.
A well-sealed and well-insulated building saves you money at the starts and finish of building your project. Reducing air infiltration reduces the amount of conditioned (hot or cold) air that gets pumped out of the building while also reducing the amount of undesirable and dirty unconditioned air that makes its way in. Improving the building insulation means the warm or cool air your HVAC system produces, can stay warm or cool without the influence of outdoor weather conditions. Having both lots of insulation and a well-sealed building means smaller, more efficient equipment needs to be installed at the start, and that equipment has lower operating costs over its life. And because air sealing and insulation are only improved, with major renovations, it’s important to start the efficiency journey early.
And because you care about the quality, sustainability, and safety of products installed in your home, we offer a range of products that have reduced emissions during manufacturing, installation, and over the life of the home. We offer a section of products that are made of recycled content, are formaldehyde free, are low-VOC, CFC-free, and have low or reduced GWP (global warming potential). Because each situation is unique, we encourage you to reach out to our estimating department to discuss the best strategy to insulate a safe, healthy, and sustainable home.