Air sealing services in Mandan ND - fewer drafts and a house that holds its heat

Most folks call R&T Mandan Spray Foam Insulation because the room over the garage is cold, the floors are chilly or the power bill keeps climbing even after somebody added insulation. That last one is common, because insulation slows heat but won't stop air pushing through a gap underneath it, which is why attic air sealing usually comes first. The price moves with how many leaks there are, how hard they are to reach and whether old insulation has to be pulled back or tested before we can get at them. The schedule turns mostly on that testing and on whether your furnace or water heater needs attention before we tighten anything up. The estimate is where you get your own number.

I start where the risk is, not where the drafts are. Before we close up a house, we look at the furnace, water heater and anything else that burns fuel, because sealing drafts shouldn't create a new problem with the air inside. Then we find the leaks, and in an attic they're usually around can lights, flue pipes, ducts, the hatch and the tops of the walls. We pull back the insulation to get at those spots and seal them with caulk or foam, and we keep the vents at the eaves clear, since a buried vent stops the attic from breathing and the moisture ends up in the framing. The insulation goes back spread evenly out to the edges instead of piled in the middle, and we clean up before we leave, because I'd rather leave your house cleaner than we found it.

Air leaks don't stop at the attic floor. Gaps along the top of basement walls let cold air in down low, so we often seal them as part of basement insulation. Spray foam costs more than caulk and loose fill, but it seals air while it insulates, so where ductwork runs through the attic I'd lean toward closed-cell foam insulation, a dense foam that also blocks moisture. Everywhere else, sealing the gaps and topping up the loose fill usually wins.

The City of Mandan requires a permit for residential construction over $2,000, but its list names furnace changeouts and fireplace installs, not air sealing, so that list alone doesn't settle whether your job needs one. Heating, air conditioning, electrical and plumbing work each need their own separate permit, which matters when tightening up a house means changing how a furnace or water heater vents. Under a city permit, whoever holds it sets up the inspections, which can include the attic insulation and a final. When a job needs a permit, we pull it and set up the inspections, and if you're not sure about yours, ask and I'll find out from the city.

We're based in Mandan and do a lot of work in Bismarck and plenty of other cities around them, and many of the houses are older, with additions and kneewalls and attics where nothing is square. That's where leaks hide, so we plan on pulling back some insulation and finding a surprise or two.