Air sealing services in Reno NV - even rooms and a house that stops leaking air
Drafty rooms, a hot upstairs and a power bill that keeps climbing? We find where the air leaks and close it off.
- Service
- Air sealing services
- Call
- (775) 447-1048
How can you tell your house is leaking air?
Drafts near outlets and doors
You feel cool air at outlets on outside walls, around the attic hatch or under doors on a windy night. That usually means air is pulling through gaps in the walls and ceiling, and as long as it does, the furnace runs longer every winter to keep up.
One room never matches
The room over the garage stays cold, or the upstairs bakes while downstairs feels fine. Often that room's ceiling or floor has open gaps nobody ever sealed, and turning the thermostat up only overheats the rest of the house.
Dust under the attic
Gray streaks show up on ceilings, around light fixtures or along carpet edges in rooms below the attic. That's attic air coming into the house through gaps and leaving its dust behind, and it keeps coming until the gaps are closed.
What does air sealing actually do for a Reno house?
Air sealing services in Reno close the gaps, cracks and openings between the rooms your furnace and AC work on and the attic, crawl space and walls around them, like the gaps around light fixtures, pipes, wiring and flues. It cuts drafts, can bring down your heating and cooling bills, and keeps dust, pollen, moisture and pests from riding into the house on that air.
Most people call us because one part of the house feels wrong and nobody's been able to say why, which is exactly the kind of house I like. The price mostly turns on how many leaks there are and how hard they are to reach, and on whether old or soaked insulation has to come out first through insulation removal. The schedule turns on whether something has to be fixed before we seal, like a vent dumping into the attic or a furnace that needs a look, and the written estimate I send after looking at the house lays out what I found and what I'd do first.
Details to note before an estimate
- Rooms that run cold, hot or drafty
- Rough age of the house
- Gas furnace, water heater or fireplace
- Stains, droppings or wet insulation in the attic
How we do air sealing in Reno
We test the house before we start with a blower door, a big fan set in an outside doorway, so you can see how tight the house is going in, and what it shows tells me where to hunt for leaks. If your furnace or water heater vents on its own draft, we make sure it gets checked and sorted before we seal anything, because a tighter house changes how that appliance breathes. Then the crew and I go after the gaps around can lights, pipes, wiring, flues and the attic hatch, closing the small ones with caulk or foam and covering bigger openings with stiff blocking sealed at the edges. We keep the eave vents clear so the attic still breathes, and we treat sealing as its own step, because fluffy insulation slows heat but lets air walk right through it.
Air sealing often leads into the next job. In a house with a basement, the rim where the floor framing sits on the foundation leaks a lot of air, so we often seal it as part of basement insulation. The other thing people ask about is foam. Closed-cell foam insulation, a dense foam that blocks moisture, seals air while it insulates but costs more, so for most attics I'd rather seal the gaps and top up the loose fill. I steer you toward foam when your ductwork lives in the attic, because that's where it earns its price.
Work that often goes with air sealing
Basement insulation
If cold comes up through the floors or the basement stays damp and chilly, insulating down there finishes what the sealing starts.
Closed-cell foam insulation
When ducts run through the attic or a spot needs an air seal and a moisture block in one layer, this is the material for it.
What happens after you call us about air sealing?
Call or send a message
Call (775) 447-1048 or use the form and tell us what's bugging you about the house. We get back to you and set a time for me to come out.
I look and write it up
I come out myself, look at the attic, walls or crawl space, and walk you through what I found and what I'd do first. Then you get a written estimate, so you can see the work and the order it goes in before you decide.
We settle permits and safety checks
Once you say yes, we settle the permit question with the right office for your address. Any appliance check or attic repair that has to come first gets lined up now, so the sealing isn't left waiting on it.
We seal and go over it
The crew and I do the work, so the person who looked at your house is on the job too. When we're done, we go over it with you so you know what we sealed and where.
Common questions about air sealing your house
How do I know if my home needs air sealing?
Your house is a good candidate if you've got drafty rooms, rooms that run warmer or colder than the rest, high heating or cooling bills, dry indoor air in winter or ice dams along the roof edge. The dust streaks under the attic I mentioned above are on the same list. You can hold your house up against ENERGY STAR's attic air sealing guide before you call.
What happens before air sealing starts in a Reno house?
A national air sealing checklist calls for a test that measures how airtight the house is, then a target for how tight it should end up, and you can ask to see both. The same guide recommends having a professional fix certain attic problems first, like wet insulation, moldy or rotted framing, little or no ventilation, and kitchen, bath or dryer vents blowing into the attic. We're fully licensed and insured, and if I find one of those, I'd rather tell you it comes first than seal over it.
Is air sealing safe if I have a gas furnace or water heater?
It is, when those appliances get checked before the sealing starts. If one vents on its own draft, the checklist calls for a combustion safety test to make sure fumes aren't spilling back into the house, and any problem gets fixed before sealing goes ahead. A tighter house can also hold in carbon monoxide, radon and chemical fumes, so the job may need an added ventilation fan or a repair to whatever is giving them off.
How do I figure out what air sealing will cost in Reno?
The way to get your number is an estimate after someone has looked inside your attic, because the cost depends on what's up there. A roomy attic with a handful of leaks costs much less than a low, cramped one with old insulation piled over dozens of can lights, and repairs that have to come first add to it. Call or use the form and I'll come take a look.
Do I need a permit for air sealing in Reno?
The City of Reno says most construction and building projects need a building permit, so don't assume yours doesn't, and inside city limits the city's Development Services Department answers permit questions. Applications go in online through the ONE Regional Licensing and Permitting portal, where you can also check status and pay fees. When your job needs one, applying is the part we handle.
What if my attic has vermiculite or old knob and tube wiring?
Then that gets dealt with before any sealing. Vermiculite, a light, pea-size, flaky gray fill, may contain asbestos, so it stays undisturbed until an approved lab tests it and confirms it doesn't, and knob and tube wiring, the old pre-1930 system, can be a fire hazard where it touches insulation, so the guide advises a professional fix first. If I spot either one, I'll show you, and the sealing waits.
Get a written air sealing estimate for your house
We respond within 1 business day, and the in-person estimate is free with no pressure to book. Once you send this, we get back to you to set a time, I come out to look at the attic, walls or crawl space, and then you get a written estimate. The work is backed by our satisfaction guarantee.
Explore our services and areas
Services
- Spray foam insulation
- Attic insulation
- Blown-in insulation
- Home insulation
- Insulation removal
- Crawl space insulation
- Wall insulation
- Basement insulation
- Closed-cell foam insulation
- Open-cell foam insulation
- Commercial insulation
- Crawl space vapor barrier
- Vapor barrier installation
- Attic air sealing
- Retrofit insulation
Find out where your house leaks air
Call (775) 447-1048 or use the form, and jot down which rooms feel off, what in the house burns gas and anything odd you've seen in the attic so the first visit covers it all.