Insulation contractor in Sparks, NV - cooler upstairs, warmer floors

The city's permit list doesn't settle it, because it names jobs like roofing, water heaters, furnaces and patio covers, not insulation. So before we start, we check with the City of Sparks building permits office and apply when the job needs a permit, which goes through the city's online portal now rather than on paper. If your job also involves adding or moving wiring or plumbing, the city does require a permit for that part.

Yes. The city requires any business that comes into Sparks city limits to work to hold a City of Sparks business license, and it says a Nevada contractor license alone doesn't make a contractor licensed in Sparks. The state also requires a contractor license before anyone bids or even quotes a price, with a narrow exception for repair work under $1,000 in labor and materials that doesn't apply when the job needs a permit or is part of a larger project of $500 or more. We're fully licensed and insured, and it's fair to ask any contractor to show you both licenses and proof of workers' comp, which the city requires too.

I can't give you an honest number until I've been in the attic, because the price turns on what's already up there. How many inches you have, whether old insulation is soaked or full of droppings and has to come out first, how many gaps need sealing, how easy the attic is to move around in and whether we use loose fill or foam all move it. The written estimate I send after the visit is your figure.

Usually it's a hot roof heating the attic, with thin insulation and air gaps letting that heat down into the rooms below. July highs in Sparks average about 92°F, so the attic runs far hotter than that, and December lows average about 25°F, so the same gaps leak your heat out in winter. With only about 8 inches of precipitation a year, moisture in a Sparks attic usually comes from inside the house or a buried eave vent, so I check both.

With blown-in insulation, which is loose fill blown through a hose, and air sealing, you can usually stay home, because the crew works from the attic. Spray foam is different, so you, the kids and the pets stay out until the re-entry time, the point when it's okay to come back in, and I'll tell you that before we book. How long the crew is up there depends on the attic's size, how easy it is to get into and whether old material comes out first.

The permit holder has to be there with the ladders and tools to reach the work, and the approved, city-stamped plans have to be on site. When we pull the permit, that's us, so you don't need to drag a ladder into the hallway. The work is checked against the energy code the city has adopted, with its Northern Nevada amendments.