Attic Insulation in The Ranches, Fort Worth

Top Gun Insulation has completed attic insulation retrofits for homeowners in The Ranches, the north Fort Worth neighborhood of brick one-story and two-story homes near the Alliance area. Mail here is addressed to Roanoke, but the neighborhood is inside Fort Worth city limits and close to our shop. Each photo on this page shows a home in The Ranches whose attic we retrofitted. If your upstairs bedrooms always run warmer than the first floor, the attic is where we would start.

Attic insulation in The Ranches: what a builder attic looks like now

Homes here were put up by production builders, and the attics got the usual treatment: loose fill blown across the ceiling in one pass. Loose fill settles. It gets raked aside whenever someone services the air handler, pulls a cable or repairs a duct. Near the eaves it was often thin from the first day, because the roof comes down low there.

The result is an attic that looks fine from the hatch and comes up short once you walk it. We check the depth in several places, especially above the rooms you say are uncomfortable, and show you what we found before recommending anything.

Blown-in insulation for two-story homes in The Ranches

When the ceiling below is flat and open, blown-in insulation is what we reach for. A two-story plan often has more than one attic: the main one above the second floor, and lower sections over first-floor rooms that reach past the upstairs walls. The lower ones are easy to skip. We bring them all to an even depth.

Like most slab-built houses in North Texas, homes here usually keep the air handler and ductwork in the attic. We work around the equipment platform and fit baffles so the soffit vents stay open. Ducts lying on the ceiling can be covered by the new fill, which shields them from attic heat.

More insulation will not fix an air leak, so sealing comes first. Recessed can lights, bath fans and wiring holes all connect your upstairs rooms to the attic. So does the attic hatch, often a thin panel with no gasket. We seal what we can reach, check that each can light is rated to be covered, and weatherstrip the hatch before new fill goes down.

Spray foam insulation for bonus rooms and knee walls

The room over the garage is the classic complaint in a two-story house. It has a garage underneath, attic beside it, and short knee walls with open attic right behind them. Builders often hang batts on the attic side of those walls with nothing holding them. In time the batts sag or drop, and the wall is left bare against the hottest air in the house.

Spray foam insulation suits these spots because it stays where it is sprayed and seals while it insulates. We use it on knee walls, on the sloped ceilings above them, and along the floor edge where a bonus room meets the garage ceiling, a gap that is often wide open to the attic. Foam comes in open cell and closed cell types. We explain which one we would use, and why, before you decide.

Radiant barrier and the roof deck on a newer home

On a summer afternoon a North Texas roof pushes heat down onto the ducts, the air handler and the attic floor. A radiant barrier reflects that radiant heat back toward the roof. Some newer homes were built with foil-faced roof decking, which already does this job. Look up at the underside of your roof: if it is shiny, you have one, and we will not sell you a second. If you see bare wood, a radiant barrier is worth a conversation.

Insulation removal: when an attic of this age needs it

Most attics of this age do not need the old insulation taken out. Clean, dry loose fill can stay, and we add to it. Insulation removal makes sense in a few cases: pests have nested in it, a roof leak or an overflowing drain pan has soaked it, or you are moving to spray foam along the roofline and the attic floor has to be cleared. Otherwise we will tell you to keep what you have.

A Fort Worth insulation contractor close to The Ranches

Our shop is in north Fort Worth, not far from The Ranches. The person you talk to on the phone is part of the team that does the installs. Here is what happens when you call:

1. We go up and look. Depth, coverage, air leaks, knee walls, the hatch, the ducts and the roof deck. If something is fine, we say so.
2. You hear the options. Top up the fill, air-seal, foam the bonus room, add a radiant barrier, or leave it alone.
3. The crew does the job. We cover the path to the attic, finish what we scoped, and show you the result before we leave.

You get the measured depth of your attic next to the level recommended for this climate, so the decision rests on numbers.

Common questions from homeowners in The Ranches

My house is not that old. Can the attic really be short on insulation? Yes. Builder insulation goes in at the minimum, then settles and gets moved around. The only way to know is to measure it.

Why is the room over the garage the hottest room in the house? It is surrounded by space that is not cooled: garage below, attic beside and above. The knee walls and the floor edge are the usual weak points.

Do you also cover the subdivisions next to The Ranches? Yes. The whole list is on our service areas page.