Wall insulation in Norman OK - warmer rooms without tearing out drywall
Outside walls cold to the touch and rooms that never warm up? We fill the empty walls through small holes and patch them behind us.
- Service
- Wall insulation
- Call
- (405) 561-8031
How can you tell your walls are short on insulation?
Cold outside walls
Lay your hand flat on an outside wall on a cold morning, then on an inside wall. If the outside one feels like a windowpane, the space behind it is usually empty or the old fill has settled, and the furnace pays for that every day you wait.
One room that never catches up
A lot of houses have a corner bedroom that stays a few degrees behind the rest no matter what the thermostat says. When the vents are blowing fine, the walls around that room are usually the reason, and it gets worse in a hard cold snap or the August heat.
Air at the outlet covers
If you feel a draft at the switch plates or outlets on an outside wall, air is moving through a hollow wall. Left alone, that keeps the room drafty, pulls in dust and leaves the wall unable to hold heat the way it should.
Can you insulate the walls of a house that's already built?
Yes. Wall insulation in Norman, OK is mostly a retrofit job, filling the hollow outside walls of a finished house so the rooms hold heat in winter and keep it out in summer, and for most houses we do it without pulling the drywall down.
Usually you're calling because one end of the house is uncomfortable and the attic already looks fine, or you've owned the place long enough to suspect nobody ever put anything in the walls. What moves the price is how many outside walls need filling, whether we go in from inside or outside, the shape your siding is in and how much patching is involved, and the schedule mostly turns on your siding plans and what the city says before we start. Sometimes the walls aren't the whole story, so if the attic is thin too, attic insulation may be the better place to start. I'll walk the house, show you what I find and write it up so you can compare it with anyone else's. We're based in Norman and work in many cities around it across the Oklahoma City area.
Details to note before an estimate
- Year the house was built
- Rooms or walls that feel cold
- Siding type and condition
- Any plans for new siding
How our crew handles wall insulation
Before anyone picks up a drill, we'll talk through going in from inside or outside, because each way leaves a different kind of patch and touches a different part of the wall, and if new siding is in your plans it can make sense to do both jobs together. On the day, our crew covers the floors and furniture along the work area, finds the studs, drills into each empty bay and blows it full. We pack it firm, the way you'd stuff a pillow so it doesn't go flat, because loose fill settles over the years and leaves a cold strip at the top of the wall. Then we plug the holes, patch them and clean up before we leave.
Filling the walls is one piece of a drafty house. Air also slips in around plumbing holes, the attic hatch and gaps around can lights, which is what our air sealing services go after, and if the cold you notice is coming up through the floor, basement insulation may do more for you than the walls will.
Work that often goes with wall insulation
Air sealing services
Worth a look if the house still feels drafty with full walls, since plenty of air gets in through gaps that wall fill never reaches.
Basement insulation
For houses where the floor over the basement stays cold and the chill starts below the rooms instead of in the walls.
What happens after you call about wall insulation?
Call or send a message
Reach us at (405) 561-8031 or through the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. Tell us which rooms bother you most so I know where to start looking.
I walk the house with you
I come out myself, check the outside walls, outlets, attic and crawl space, and take photos so you see what I see before I suggest anything. You get it written up, with each piece of work and what it's for, so you can drop what you don't need or compare it with anyone else's.
Our crew seals and fills
A crew I've trained handles whatever has to come first, seals the gaps and then fills the walls. We go in that order because insulation in a leaky wall is like a sweater in the wind, and it only does its job once the air stops moving through.
I check the finished walls
I go over the work against what we agreed on before we call the job done. Then I walk you through what we did, so you know your own walls the next time someone quotes you a repair.
What people ask about wall insulation
How do I get insulation into existing walls without tearing them open?
The usual way is drill and fill, where small holes go in near the top of each wall cavity, from inside or outside, and the space gets filled with blown-in insulation, loose fill sent through a hose. A thorough job also reaches the short cavities above doors, above and below windows and behind cabinets on outside walls, and in a bathroom on an outside wall a few tiles sometimes have to come off first. Those small spots are where a rushed job usually leaves cold patches.
What is the best way to blow in wall insulation, from inside or outside?
If your siding is staying, going in from inside is usually the better choice, because drilling from outside cuts through the house wrap behind the siding that sheds water, and that layer then has to be patched or replaced. Outside makes sense when the siding is coming off anyway, since the wrap can be checked or put back new and rigid foam boards can go on the outside, along with the wall fill or in place of it. Which way fits your house comes down to how we can get into the walls and what shape that wrap is in.
How much does wall insulation cost in Norman, OK?
Across the US, blown-in fiberglass for about 1,200 square feet of uninsulated outside walls, with the drywall patched, usually runs about $1,600 to $4,600 for the job. That's a national range, not our price, and yours moves with how many walls need filling, which side we drill from and how much patching is involved. The written estimate after I walk your house gives you a number for your own walls.
Will insulating my walls stop all the drafts in my house?
No. Dense-packed cellulose, a paper-based fill packed tight, can cut a good deal of air leakage, but it only reaches the spaces between the studs. Leaks at the rim joist, the board that runs along the top of the foundation, plus the gaps between floors and where the walls meet the roof stay open, so a full plan seals those separately.
Do I need a permit or a licensed contractor for wall insulation in Norman?
Ask the city, because Norman's permit list names things like garage sale and sign permits but not wall insulation, so it doesn't settle the question either way. The city's Development Services page handles residential construction applications and carries contractor licensing information, and the state says general contractors need no state license while licensed trade work needs a trade license, with local rules left to each city. We're licensed and insured, and since permit rules differ from city to city, we check with the city's office before work starts and pull the permit or walk you through getting one when the job calls for it.
What should I know before insulating walls in a house built before 1980?
Lead safety rules may apply, because national guidance says to be aware of them in homes built before 1980, depending on how much of the wall gets disturbed. That's why I ask for the year your house was built when you request an estimate, so we can plan the drilling and patching around it.
Get a written wall insulation estimate for your house
Send the form and we'll reply within one business day to set up a free visit, with no pressure to book. I come out myself, look over your walls and attic, show you photos of what I find and write it up so you can compare it with anyone else's.
Explore our services and areas
Services
- Spray foam insulation
- Attic insulation
- Blown-in insulation
- Home insulation
- Insulation removal
- Crawl space insulation
- Air sealing services
- Basement insulation
- Closed-cell foam insulation
- Open-cell foam insulation
- Commercial insulation
- Crawl space vapor barrier
- Vapor barrier installation
- Attic air sealing
- Retrofit insulation
Plan your wall insulation around your siding
Call (405) 561-8031 or use the form, and have your build year and any re-siding plans ready so the first visit gets straight to the right questions.