How much insulation should a Michigan attic have?

Federal guidance for this climate zone lands around R-49 to R-60, which is roughly fourteen to twenty inches of blown material depending on whether it is cellulose or fiberglass. Most older houses around Lansing measure between three and seven inches, and plenty have nothing over an addition or a dormer. You can establish your own figure in five minutes with a tape measure pushed down to the attic floor in three or four places, and that number is worth having before you talk to anybody.

Why is my upstairs still cold after insulation was added?

Three usual reasons. The air sealing was never done, so the house is still moving air through the new material. The eaves got blocked, so the roof is no longer ventilating. Or the house is a one-and-a-half story and the heat is leaving through the kneewalls and sloped ceilings rather than the flat part somebody could walk on and measure. That last one is very common in Lansing and East Lansing housing, and it is why a depth figure on its own can be misleading.

Will more attic insulation stop ice dams?

Insulation plus air sealing usually will; insulation alone frequently will not. Ice dams are caused by heat escaping into the attic and warming the roof deck, and that heat mostly escapes with the air carrying it — so sealing is the half that does the work. Worse, blocking the eaves while adding depth can make ice dams more likely, by removing the ventilation that keeps the deck cold. The ridge of ice at the gutter is a symptom of the ceiling rather than a fault in the roof.

Is there a rebate for attic insulation in Michigan?

Four programs pay toward insulation and air sealing, and one of them has no income test at all — the eligibility check is simply whether Consumers Energy sends you a gas or electric bill. One rule decides whether the money is actually available: the rebate is reserved after a full diagnostic assessment rather than after the work, so the order of operations matters more than the paperwork does. Where this company stands is stated plainly on the energy rebates page — BPI Building Analyst certification is in progress and Michigan Home Energy Rebates contractor registration is in progress — and you can apply for income verification today regardless, with an approval good for a full year.

What has to be checked before insulation goes in?

Four things, each of which can stop the job, and all four are common in houses of this age around here. Non-IC recessed light fittings, where the clearance is fire protection and must not be buried. Knob-and-tube wiring, which was designed to shed heat into open air. Vermiculite — loose gray-brown pellets, typically pre-1990 — treated as asbestos-containing until sampled, and not moved, vacuumed or insulated over. And a bathroom or kitchen fan discharging into the attic, which will make the new insulation wet. All four get routinely insulated straight over.

What does attic insulation cost?

There is no rate card. It is set by the area and how much of it can be reached on your knees rather than your stomach, the gap between the depth that is there and the depth you want, whether anything has to come out and whether it has to come out in bags through the house, whether the air sealing is being done first, what the recessed fittings and flues need, and the shape of the house. Somebody comes out, measures, photographs it and puts a fixed price in writing with the measured depth on it. Coming out is free.

How Much Attic Insulation Do You Need? Measure It Yourself First

Q: Can I add new insulation on top of old insulation?

Usually, yes. Old fiberglass that is dry, undisturbed and not compressed is still working and blown material goes straight over the top of it — blown over batts is completely normal. It comes out when it is wet, moldy or rodent-fouled, or when it has to be lifted to reach the air sealing underneath, which is the most common reason by far. What you should not do is add insulation over material that is wet without finding out why, because the new layer hides the cause and gets ruined by it.

Q: Blown insulation or batts — which is better for an attic?

Blown loose-fill is right for most open attic floors, because it flows around obstructions and gets consistent coverage, and consistent coverage matters more than the number on the bag. Batts win in specific places: kneewalls, sloped sections, small or awkward areas, and over a floored attic that has to stay usable for storage. Depth markers get left in place with blown material so anybody can check afterwards what actually went in. Spray foam is a specialist install with its own equipment and curing requirements and we do not offer it.

Go and measure it. That is the whole diagnostic and it takes five minutes.

Push a tape measure down to the attic floor in three or four places and write the numbers down. Most older houses around Lansing come in between three and seven inches, and a surprising number have nothing at all over an addition or a dormer.

Federal guidance for an attic in this climate zone lands around R-49 to R-60 — roughly fourteen to twenty inches of blown material, depending which material it is. The gap between your number and that one is the entire opportunity, and you now know it without anybody selling you anything.

Want somebody to look? Send photographs and we will tell you what you are dealing with. Somebody goes up there, lists what they find, and you get a fixed price in writing before anything starts. Book a free quote or call 517-505-7135.

Depth is the second question

The first is whether the attic floor has been air sealed, because insulation slows heat and does nothing about moving air. Insulation over an unsealed attic leaves the house working like a chimney and underperforms whatever the bag says.

The order is: air seal, then baffles at the eaves, then insulate.

That is not an upsell. Doing it in that order is also cheaper overall, because once a foot of loose material is down, reaching the top plates and chases underneath costs several times as much. There is a separate piece on the sealing half — your house is a chimney — and it is the one to read first.

Four things checked before any material goes down

Each can stop the job, and all four are common in houses of this age around here:

Non-IC recessed light fittings in the ceiling below. The clearance around them is fire protection and they must not be buried.
Knob-and-tube wiring, designed to shed heat into open air. A licensed electrician looks before anything covers it.
Vermiculite — loose gray-brown pellets, typically pre-1990. Treated as asbestos-containing until a sample says otherwise. Not moved, not vacuumed, not insulated over, and not our work.
A fan discharging into the attic, which will make the new insulation wet.

All four get routinely insulated straight over by somebody in a hurry.

Does the old insulation come out?

Usually not. Old fiberglass that is dry, undisturbed and not compressed is still doing its job, and new blown material goes straight over the top — blown over batts is completely normal.

It comes out when it is wet, moldy or rodent-fouled, or when it has to be lifted to reach the air sealing underneath — which is the most common reason by a wide margin.

What you should never do is add insulation over material that is wet without finding out why. The new layer hides the cause and gets ruined by it.

Blown or batts?

Blown loose-fill is the right answer for most open attic floors: it flows around obstructions and gets consistent coverage, which matters more than the number on the bag. Depth markers get left in so anybody can check it afterwards.

Batts win in specific places — kneewalls, sloped sections, small or awkward areas, and over a floored attic that has to stay usable for storage.

Spray foam we do not offer. It is a specialist install with its own equipment and curing requirements, and it is expensive to reverse rather than easy to top up.

The Lansing house shape that breaks the rule

A great deal of Lansing and East Lansing housing is one-and-a-half stories — kneewalls, dormers, sloped ceilings.

In those houses a flat depth figure means the least, because the heat is leaving through the kneewall and the slope, not through the flat part somebody can walk on and measure. It is also the most common reason somebody says their upstairs is still hot or cold after insulation was added.

The other two reasons being: the air sealing was never done, or the eaves got blocked.

Will it stop ice dams?

Insulation plus air sealing usually will. Insulation alone frequently will not — because ice dams are caused by heat escaping into the attic and warming the roof deck, and the heat mostly escapes with the air that carries it. Block the eaves while adding depth and you can make it worse, by removing the ventilation keeping the deck cold.

Fuller version: ice dams are an insulation problem, not a roof problem.

Who pays for it

Four Michigan programs pay toward insulation and air sealing, and one of them has no income test at all — the eligibility check is whether Consumers Energy sends you a bill. One rule decides whether the money is available: the rebate is reserved after a diagnostic assessment, not after the work.

Where this company stands is stated plainly on the energy rebates page: BPI Building Analyst certification is in progress and Michigan Home Energy Rebates contractor registration is in progress. You can apply for income verification today regardless, and an approval is good for a full year.

Before you call anybody

Three depth measurements, written down.
A photograph of the material. Fiberglass batts, loose gray cellulose and loose gray-brown pellets are three very different situations.
Look at the eaves from inside the attic.
Look for dark staining on the underside of the roof deck. That means moisture, and something else has to be fixed first.
Check the addition and the dormers separately. Frequently far worse, and nobody looks.

Book it

Book a free quote · call 517-505-7135 · or read more about attic insulation.
Read the sealing half first: air sealing. Rebates: energy rebates and grants. Crawl space instead? crawl space encapsulation.
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