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Attic guides

These guides are for the part before anyone quotes anything: working out what's in your attic, what's safe to touch, and what order the work should go in. Some of it is simple, like reading a ruler stuck in the insulation. Some of it, like old wiring or pebbly loose fill, means stopping and calling a different trade first.

Safety stops

Read these before anyone moves insulation.

3 pages

  1. Knob-and-tube wiring

    Old wiring on porcelain knobs doesn't rule out insulation, but it changes who goes first, what paperwork exists, and which materials are even allowed.

  2. Vermiculite insulation

    Gray-brown pebbles between the joists change the whole plan for an attic. How to tell, what not to do, and who actually handles it.

  3. What an attic inspection covers

    Ten things anyone walking your attic should look at, the two things a free visit can't do, and how to tell a real look from a sales stop.

Planning the work

Measuring, reports, insurance and the order of jobs.

7 pages

  1. Check your attic insulation

    A ruler, a flashlight and five minutes at the hatch tell you more than you'd think, as long as you know which things mean climb back down.

  2. Attic lines on an inspection report

    Your inspector wrote seven words about the attic and you're in escrow. Here's how to read them, and which ones change the conversation.

  3. Insulate before a heat pump

    A heat pump is sized to the house it's installed in. Which house that is depends on what happens in the attic, and when.

  4. Wildfire insurance discounts

    The state made insurers recognize wildfire hardening on the premium. One item on the list lives in your attic.

  5. Reroofing and the attic

    A new roof opens the attic in ways nothing else does. In two Bay Area climate zones, it also brings a rule about roof color.

  6. Attic work before solar

    Panels stay on a roof for decades. A little sequencing beforehand decides how hard the attic is to work on for all of them.

  7. Unvented attic conversion

    Closing the attic vents and foaming the roof deck is a redesign, not an upgrade. Here's when it pays its way, and what it changes.

By type of home

Older houses, townhouses and condos.

2 pages

  1. Older homes, era by era

    A 1910 house and a 1975 house both count as old. What you'll find in their attics, and what has to happen first, is very different.

  2. Townhouse and condo attics

    When the attic above you also sits above your neighbors, the usual rules bend in some places and get stricter in others.

Every guide is written for Bay Area houses, from foggy San Francisco flats to hot inland ranches, and cites the official sources it relies on.

For the code itself, see the Title 24 attic insulation rules. For what programs exist today, see rebates. For the work itself, browse services, or get a Bay Area market range and book a free inspection.

Let's go look at your attic.

Start with your ZIP code. A few questions later you'll have a Bay Area market range, and you can pick a time for a free inspection.

What happens next

  1. 1

    Price range online. The estimator gives you a Bay Area market range in a couple of minutes.

  2. 2

    Free inspection. In your home, or from photos or video you send if you'd rather skip the visit.

  3. 3

    Written quote. What comes out, what gets sealed, what goes in.

  4. 4

    Install day. Done by our own crews.

  5. 5

    Cleanup. Old material bagged and hauled away, the work area cleaned.

  • No deposit until you sign, and never more than 10% of the contract or $1,000, whichever is less.
  • Every customer gets five business days to cancel after signing.
  • Materials carry the manufacturer warranty.

Attic estimate

Question 1 of 5
1 · ZIP codeWhere's the attic?

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