Wall insulation in Mandan ND - outside walls packed full, no tearing out drywall
Cold outside walls and a power bill that keeps climbing? We fill the empty spaces inside your walls so your rooms hold their heat.
Request an estimate
Can you insulate walls without tearing them open?
Wall insulation in Mandan for a house that's already built usually means drilling a small hole near the top of each space between the studs and blowing insulation in until it's packed full. Your cold outside walls stop leaking heat, and nobody has to tear out drywall or plaster to get there.
Most calls start with a cold bedroom, a drafty living room or a power bill that won't come down, and in an older house the outside walls are often close to empty. The price moves with how much wall there is, which side we work from and what turns up in the wiring. The schedule moves with the same things, plus any siding repair or permit the job needs, and the estimate gives you the figure for your own house. If the cold is coming from overhead instead, attic insulation may be the better place to start.
How we do wall insulation
With a closed wall, what matters is what's inside it, so older wiring gets checked before anyone drills a hole. We also find the studs and any blocking, the short boards nailed across between them, so we know how many holes each bay, the space between two studs, needs. Then our crew drills small holes near the top, blows the insulation in and packs each bay tight so it stays put and doesn't leave gaps. We plug and patch the holes and clean up, because I want the house left as clean as we found it, or a little cleaner.
Filled walls cut the drafts inside each bay, but air still gets in where the house meets the foundation, between floors and up at the roof, and that's the job of our air sealing services. The rim joist, the board that sits on top of the foundation, is a common leak, and we usually handle it along with basement insulation.
Wall insulation in Mandan: permits and older houses
Inside Mandan city limits and out to two miles beyond them, permits to alter or repair a building come from the city's Building Inspection Department, which also inspects permitted work against the building code. Whether drilling and filling your walls needs one is the city's call, not mine, so if you're not sure about your job, ask and I'll find out. When a permit is needed, we pull it and set up the inspections.
A lot of the walls we work on around here belong to older houses, where whoever framed it had their own ideas about stud spacing, so we plan the holes bay by bay instead of guessing. We see the same kinds of houses on jobs in Mandan and Bismarck, along with plenty of other cities around them.
Wall insulation work up close
Get a wall insulation estimate for your house
Send the form and we'll get back to you within one business day to set a time for me to come out. The estimate is free and done on site, with no obligation, and it helps if you know the year your house was built and whether it has knob and tube wiring.
(701) 299-5063Wall insulation questions from Mandan homeowners
What is the best way to insulate existing walls, from the inside or the outside?
Working from inside leaves the wall's drainage plane, the weather layer behind the siding, alone, while drilling from outside breaks it and it has to be patched or replaced. Outside can still be the right call when the inside is hard to get at or that layer needs work anyway, but the repair becomes part of the job. I'll tell you which side fits your house at the estimate.
How much does wall insulation cost in Mandan, ND?
Dense-pack cellulose, loose recycled-paper insulation blown in tight, usually costs about $2 to $3 per square foot of wall when it goes into existing walls in the Mandan area. Treat that as a planning figure for the local market, not our price. Your own number comes from the estimate after I've seen the walls.
What causes blown-in wall insulation to settle?
Low density does. Insulation blown in too loose settles and leaves new empty spots, so every bay has to be filled completely and packed dense enough to resist settling. Ask each contractor you're comparing how they pack the walls.
Can you blow insulation into walls that have knob and tube wiring?
No. The national electrical code doesn't allow insulation applied to or around knob and tube wiring, the old system of single wires strung on porcelain knobs. That's why the wiring check comes first, and if we find it, I'll tell you before anything goes in the wall.
How do I deal with lead when insulating walls in an older Mandan home?
If your house was built before 1980, lead safety rules can apply, depending on how much wall gets disturbed. Ask any crew how they handle lead before drilling starts, and tell me the year your house was built so we can go over it at the estimate.
When does a contractor need a license in North Dakota?
The state requires a contractor license when a job's cost, value or price is over $4,000. Ask any contractor you're comparing whether they're licensed before you sign for work that size.
Get your Mandan walls looked at
Call (701) 299-5063 or use our contact form, and since we answer until 11 PM on weekdays, you can call once you're home and can tell which rooms run cold.