7 Signs Your Home Needs New Insulation

Your House Might Be Trying to Tell You Something

Glendale's climate doesn't mess around. Summers over 100 degrees, winter nights in the 40s, and that relentless sun beating down on your roof all year. Your insulation's the only thing standing between you and misery - and in a lot of Glendale homes, it's not doing its job.

Here's the thing: most houses built before the 80s were insulated to standards that seem laughable now. And even homes that started out okay might have insulation that's settled, gotten wet, or been damaged by rodents over the decades. Those Spanish bungalows in the Tropico area? The mid-century ranches in La Crescenta? A lot of them have maybe 4 inches of attic insulation and zero in the walls.

The Department of Energy says 90% of American homes are under-insulated. Having worked in hundreds of Glendale attics, we'd say that tracks.

Good news is, your home gives you pretty clear signals when insulation's failing. Here are the seven warning signs we see most often.

1. Your Energy Bill Keeps Climbing

This is usually the first thing people notice. Your SCE bill's creeping up, but you're not using more electricity than last year. What gives?

When insulation fails, your AC and heater have to work overtime. Cool air leaks out in summer, heat pours in through the ceiling. In winter, the warmth you're paying for escapes. Your system runs longer, uses more power, and you write bigger checks.

Quick Reality Check

• Pull up last August's bill. Now check this August. Significant jump?
• Your neighbor's paying $100 less for a similar house? That's a clue.
• Rate increases don't explain the difference? Insulation's probably the issue.
• Even winter gas bills going up in our mild climate? Something's leaking.

SCE and SoCalGas both have online tools showing your year-over-year usage. If you're seeing a steady upward trend, especially in summer months, that's your house telling you something's wrong.

Most Glendale homeowners save 15-30% on cooling costs after upgrading to R-38. That's real money - often $50-150/month in summer.

2. The Upstairs Is Always Hotter (Or Some Rooms Never Feel Right)

Thermostat wars. You know the drill - it's 72 downstairs and 80 in the master bedroom. You crank the AC, freeze out the family room, and the bedroom's still warm. Classic insulation problem.

A well-insulated house should be within 2-3 degrees everywhere. More variation than that means heat's getting in where it shouldn't.

Patterns We See All the Time

• Second floor's a sauna: That 150-degree attic is radiating straight through your ceiling. Not enough insulation up there.
• West-facing rooms are brutal: Afternoon sun plus weak insulation equals misery.
• Bonus room over the garage: Super common in Glendale. Nobody insulated the floor properly. These rooms are basically outside.
• Any room right under the attic: If it's unbearable in July, that's your answer.

Try this: put a thermometer in your hottest room and your coolest room. Check them both at 3pm. More than 4-5 degrees difference? Time to look at your insulation.

When it's 105 outside and your attic's hitting 150, every bit of missing insulation matters. Check out our hot attic solutions if this sounds familiar.

3. Your AC Never Stops Running

Your HVAC should cycle. On for a while, off for a while, on again. That's normal. What's not normal? The compressor running from 11am to 8pm without a break. That's your system losing the battle against heat pouring in through bad insulation.

Think of it this way: your AC makes cold air, but if the insulation's shot, that cold air escapes and hot attic air pours in. The AC keeps making more, it keeps escaping. Endless cycle. Huge electric bill.

Red Flags

• It's been running for three hours and you're still at 76 when you set it to 72
• System turns off, then kicks back on two minutes later
• Your HVAC guy says the system's fine but "undersized" - maybe it's not undersized, maybe the insulation's the problem
• August electric bill is twice what you paid last year

Here's a quick test: on a 95-degree day, is your AC running more than 80% of the time? That's not the AC's fault - it's fighting a losing battle.

Beyond the energy waste, constant running kills your HVAC system early. We've seen units that should last 15-20 years die at 8-10 because they're overworked. Fixing the insulation protects your AC investment too.

4. Moisture Stains or Musty Smells

Ice dams? Not really a thing in Glendale. But moisture problems from bad insulation? We see them all the time. It's not obvious, but temperature differences between your attic and living space can cause condensation, mold, and humidity issues that mess with your home and your health.

When your AC's pumping cold air and the attic's at 140 degrees, that temperature difference can create condensation. During rare cold snaps, the opposite happens. Either way, moisture ends up where it shouldn't.

What to Look For

• Brown stains on your ceiling - water marks
• Musty smell when you open the attic hatch
• Black spots in the attic (that's mold)
• Peeling paint on your soffits
• Rust on anything metal in the attic
• Soft, spongy wood on rafters or sheathing

If you can safely get into your attic, look for dark spots on the wood. That's moisture damage. Feel the insulation - if it's damp or matted down, it's compromised.

Once insulation gets wet, it's pretty much done. Loses its R-value, potentially grows mold. Usually needs to come out completely before you can put new stuff in. That's where our insulation removal service comes in.

5. You Can Feel the Heat (or Cold) Through the Walls

Put your hand on an exterior wall. On your ceiling. On the floor above the garage. They should feel room temperature. If the ceiling's warm on a hot day, or the wall's cold in winter, heat's moving through too easily.

Good insulation is a thermal barrier - it keeps inside temps stable regardless of what's happening outside. When you can literally feel the temperature through your walls or ceiling, that barrier's failed.

Try This

• Palm on the wall: Touch an exterior wall. It shouldn't feel noticeably different from an interior wall.
• Ceiling test: At 3pm on a hot day, touch your ceiling. Warm? That's attic heat radiating through.
• Floor check: Standing on the floor above your garage? If your feet are cold in winter (or cooking in summer), no insulation down there.

Do this test when it's extreme outside - a 100-degree afternoon or a chilly January morning. That's when you'll really notice if the insulation's working.

Fun fact: most Glendale homes built before 1978 have zero wall insulation. It just wasn't required back then. If your house is from that era and your walls feel like the temperature outside, that's why. Wall insulation retrofits can fix this.

6. Random Drafts That Shouldn't Be There

Standing in your hallway and feel a breeze? Windows are closed? That's conditioned air escaping and outside air sneaking in. Drafts mean air leaks, and air leaks make insulation problems worse.

The usual suspects: electrical outlets on exterior walls, recessed lights, the attic hatch, anywhere pipes or wires poke through the ceiling. These holes let your cooled air escape into the attic and hot attic air pour into your house.

Where to Check

• Outlets on exterior walls - put your hand near them on a cold day
• Can lights in rooms below the attic - major air leak sources
• The attic access door or pull-down stairs - usually poorly sealed
• Where any pipes or wires go through the ceiling
• Where walls meet the ceiling - gaps hide in the corners
• Old windows and door frames

Want a DIY test? On a windy day, light a stick of incense and hold it near these spots. If the smoke moves sideways, you've got air movement.

The best fix combines air sealing with new insulation - plug the holes AND add thermal resistance. Spray foam does both at once, which is why we often recommend it for homes with serious air leakage. Check out our air sealing services for the full picture.

7. The Insulation's Just Old (Or Looks Rough)

Even if nothing else seems wrong, insulation over 20 years old probably isn't doing what it used to. Materials break down. Stuff settles. Twenty years of minor issues add up to major performance loss.

And that's assuming nothing bad happened - roof leaks, rodents making nests, someone storing boxes on top of it and crushing it flat. Any of that accelerates the decline.

What Damaged Insulation Looks Like

• Settled: Blown-in that used to be 12 inches is now 6
• Crushed: Fiberglass batts smashed flat by Christmas decorations
• Gaps: Bare spots where you can see the joists - insulation's shifted
• Dark spots: Usually means moisture damage or dirty air coming through
• Rodent evidence: Tunnels, droppings, nesting material (common in older Glendale homes)
• Smell: Musty odor when you open the hatch

If you can get up there safely, bring a tape measure. R-38 (the California minimum) means 10-14 inches of material depending on type. Got 4 inches? That was probably R-11 when it was new, and it's even less now.

A lot of Glendale homes from the 60s and 70s started with 3-4 inches. That's maybe R-11. We need R-38 to R-49 now. You're starting at less than a third of what you need. Here's what California requires and why it matters.

Noticed a Few of These? Here's What to Do

If you're seeing two or more of these signs, it's time to get someone to take a look. You can spot some problems yourself, but others need thermal imaging and blower door tests to really understand what's going on.

Get an Energy Audit

A full energy audit uses an infrared camera to see where heat's escaping and a blower door to measure how leaky your house is. You can't fake these results - they show exactly what's happening.

What you get:

• Thermal images showing exactly where insulation's missing or failed
• Air leakage numbers - how much conditioned air you're losing
• Priority list of what to fix first based on bang for your buck
• Documentation you'll need for rebates and tax credits

Or Just Have Us Look at the Insulation

If you're pretty sure insulation's the issue, we can skip straight to the inspection. We'll check:

• What type of insulation you have, how deep, what condition
• Whether there's anything in the walls (thermal camera)
• Floor above the garage - insulated or not?
• Major air leaks around penetrations
• Ventilation situation

Then we'll tell you what makes sense - top off what's there, remove the old stuff and start fresh, or upgrade to spray foam. Depends on what we find.

Ready to Fix It? Here's the Game Plan

This doesn't have to be complicated. Here's how most Glendale homeowners tackle it:

Start Collecting Info

Pull together your last 6 months of energy bills. Note which rooms are uncomfortable and when. If you can safely poke your head into the attic, snap some photos. This helps us understand what you're dealing with.

Get a Free Assessment

Give us a call or fill out the form. We'll come out, look at everything, and tell you what we find. No charge, no obligation. You'll know exactly what's going on and what it would cost to fix.

Know Your Options

Depending on what we find, you might need:

• Blown-in insulation - the budget-friendly way to add depth
• Spray foam - the premium option that insulates AND seals
• Radiant barrier - great for hot attics in our sunny climate
• Removal first - if the old stuff's damaged or contaminated

Don't Forget the Rebates

SCE, SoCalGas, and federal programs all offer money back for insulation upgrades. Can knock a nice chunk off the price. Check out available California rebates.

Get It Done

Most attic jobs take a day. We handle prep, installation, cleanup. You come home to a house that works better.