Attic Insulation in Des Moines, Built Around Older Houses
Abraham LaMark seals the gaps in your attic floor first, then blows cellulose to R-49, his target for Des Moines attics.
- About half of Des Moines homes were built before 1960
- Median year built: 1961
- Beaverdale Brick homes first appeared in 1938
Free estimate in Des Moines
- About a 10 to 15 minute visit
- Your bid, usually within 24 hours
- Abraham calls or texts back within one business day.
Estimates are free within a half-hour drive of Des Moines.
- Owner on site for every job
- Same crew for 16 years, no subcontractors
- Over 2,000 homes since 2008
- Insured up to $2 million
About half of Des Moines was built before 1960
Among the bigger towns on this site, Des Moines has the oldest houses. The median home here was built in 1961, and about half the city's homes went up before 1960.
The problems Abraham sees most often in any house are poor attic insulation, poor wall insulation and poor ventilation. In an older attic there's also what sits underneath the insulation: gaps in the attic floor where warm, damp air from the house escapes upward. When that air reaches a cold attic it condenses, and condensation from those leaks is a common problem he finds.
That's why Abraham seals before he insulates. New insulation blown over an open gap leaves the gap working underneath it, so the sealing comes first and the cellulose goes on top.
Free estimate in Des Moines
- About a 10 to 15 minute visit
- Your bid, usually within 24 hours
- Abraham calls or texts back within one business day.
Estimates are free within a half-hour drive of Des Moines.
Beaverdale, Sherman Hill, Highland Park and Oak Park
Some of the city's best-known neighborhoods are also some of its oldest. Sherman Hill began developing in the 1870s, and in 1982 it became one of Des Moines' first locally designated historic districts. Beaverdale, the largest recognized neighborhood, was mostly subdivided from 1920 to 1940, and local contractor E.T. McMurray's Beaverdale Brick homes date from 1938 on. Highland Park and Oak Park grew up as a streetcar suburb around the Sixth and Euclid business district, which developed from roughly 1915 to 1925. Abraham covers all of Des Moines, including the part of the city that reaches into Warren County.
- Beaverdale
- Sherman Hill
- Highland Park
- Oak Park
Six places air leaks into a Des Moines attic
| Leak | Where it turns up |
|---|---|
| Around the soil pipe | Any house, where the main plumbing stack comes up through the attic floor |
| Around the flue pipe | Any house with a furnace or water heater venting up through the attic |
| Joints and seams at the tops of the walls | Any house. In winter, humidity escapes up into the attic. In summer, hot attic air works its way down into the rooms |
| Bulkheads | Boxed-in sections of ceiling that sit under the attic |
| Chaseway over the basement stairs | Ranch houses |
| Chaseway along an old furnace route | Story-and-a-half houses |
Story-and-a-half or ranch? Abraham checks the chaseway
If your Des Moines house is a story-and-a-half, Abraham looks for the chaseway left by the old furnace route. If it's a ranch, he looks at the chaseway over the basement stairs. Both are openings where house air can travel up into the attic, and both get buried once insulation is blown over them. Abraham pays particular attention to them, along with any bulkheads, and seals them before anything goes on top.
Get your Des Moines attic sealed and blown to R-49
Estimates are free anywhere in Des Moines. Call or text Abraham at (515) 868-5400, or fill in the form at the bottom of the page.
Why the R-49 is cellulose, not fiberglass
Abraham's target for Des Moines attics is R-49, and he gets there with cellulose rather than fiberglass.
His reason is the way air moves. Fiberglass is porous, so air can drift through it even at full depth. By his account, an R-49 cellulose attic performs way better than an R-49 fiberglass one.
Baffles go in at the eaves so the soffit vents keep moving air, since ventilation is part of the same air-infiltration work as the sealing. And because blown-in insulation settles, Abraham accounts for that in the depth he installs.
What to expect on the day of a Des Moines attic job
- An attic usually takes half a day to a full day.
- You don't have to be home while the work is done.
- You pay 30% when you sign and the balance when the job is finished, by cash, check, card, Venmo, Cash App or PayPal. Financing isn't offered.
- The material carries a 20-year warranty from Insulate Iowa. If the job doesn't deliver the improvement you agreed on, Abraham comes back and reworks it at no extra cost.
Des Moines attic insulation questions
What is the recommended R-value for attic insulation in Iowa?
Abraham's target for Des Moines and the rest of the metro is R-49. Farther north, in the Ames region, the target rises to R-60. For a Des Moines attic, that means sealing first, then cellulose to R-49.
Should I remove old attic insulation before adding new?
Only if there's a reason to. Abraham vacuums old insulation out when animals, water or mold have gotten into it, or when it's sitting on leaks in the attic floor that need sealing. He'll tell you whether yours needs to come out after he sees it.
Can a thermal camera show where my Des Moines attic is leaking?
Sometimes. Abraham uses an infrared camera to find missing insulation and air leaks, but it needs very hot or very cold weather to get a good read, so it isn't part of every estimate.
I'm selling a house in Des Moines. Does Abraham work with realtors and home inspectors?
Yes. Realtors and home inspectors are among his customers, along with homeowners and repeat clients.
Can Abraham come out on a Saturday?
His Saturday hours are 8:00 AM to noon. Weekday hours are Monday to Friday, 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Get a free estimate in Des Moines
Tell us about the house and what's bothering you. Abraham calls or texts back within one business day.
Estimates are free within a half-hour drive of Des Moines.
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