The one day fix for a hot upstairs
Foam at the underside of the roof deck turns a 140°F vented attic into a partly conditioned space a few degrees off the house. Your ducts and air handler come inside with it. Most attics are sprayed in a single day.
Three things go wrong in a vented Houston attic
The equipment cooks
The air handler and every duct run sit in 130 to 140°F air from May to October. The system delivers less than it was sized for and runs longer to do it.
The ceiling is a sieve
Can lights, top plates, bath fans, duct chases and the attic hatch let conditioned air out and pull humid attic air in. Blown insulation on the floor does nothing about that.
The house pulls in water
Every leak path carries humid Gulf air into the cooled parts of the house, so the system spends runtime removing water instead of heat. That is the sticky, never quite cool feeling.
Roof deck conversion, step by step
The insulation boundary moves from the attic floor to the roof line. Open-cell foam is sprayed to the underside of the roof deck and the gable walls at a thickness that meets the code R-value, forming a continuous air barrier. Soffit, ridge and gable vents are sealed. Powered attic fans are removed or decommissioned. The attic becomes part of the conditioned building.
What is included
- Removal of radiant barrier and any wet or contaminated insulation, if needed
- Sealing of vents, fans and the attic hatch
- Open-cell foam at the deck and gables to the specified thickness
- Ignition barrier or thermal barrier over the foam as code requires
- Depth readings and photographs before anything is covered
- Written certification of thickness, R-value and area for your records and the inspector
What we check before we say yes
Roof deck condition, active leaks, atmospherically vented gas appliances in the attic, and how the house will get its ventilation once the attic is sealed. If any of those is a problem, you hear about it at the assessment, and sometimes the honest answer is that the house is not a candidate yet.
Bonus rooms over the garage
The knee walls and floor cavities around a room over the garage are almost never sealed by the builder. It is why that room is 8 degrees off the rest of the house. We do them on the same visit as the attic.
Closed-cell on the coast
In League City, Galveston, Baytown and anywhere near the bay, closed-cell at the deck adds wind uplift resistance and vapor performance. It costs more per inch. We will tell you when it is worth it.
What does spray foam cost in Houston?
Nobody else in town will put a number on the page. We will. Slide the square footage, pick the foam, and see the installed range before you talk to anyone. The real quote comes after we see the attic.
- Ranges reflect what this market actually charges, installed
- Attic roof decks usually run open-cell. Metal, crawl and coastal work usually run closed-cell.
- Access, height, removal of old insulation and prep move the number
Attic questions
How much does attic spray foam cost in Houston?
Most attic roof deck conversions land between $4,000 and $10,000 installed, driven by roof area, pitch, access and whether old insulation or a radiant barrier has to come out. Open-cell runs about $2.50 to $3.50 per square foot of roof deck. Use the calculator for your square footage, then let us see the attic for a real number.
Should I foam the roof deck or add more insulation to the attic floor?
If your ducts and air handler are in the attic, which is almost every Houston house, the roof deck is the answer. Adding insulation to the floor leaves the equipment in 140°F air. If your equipment is not in the attic and the ceiling is already tight, topping up the floor can be the cheaper right answer, and we will tell you that.
What about my radiant barrier and attic fans?
A radiant barrier stapled to the rafters comes out so the foam can bond to the deck. Powered attic fans and ridge or soffit vents get sealed, because the attic is no longer vented once it is inside the envelope.
Will it smell?
During application and until the posted reentry time, yes, which is why the house is empty and ventilated. Properly installed foam sprayed within the manufacturer's temperature and ratio ranges does not have a lingering odor. Lingering odor is a symptom of a bad install, and it is why we log conditions through the pour.
Does the foam need a fire rated covering in the attic?
Code requires an ignition barrier or thermal barrier over exposed foam in most attic conditions, with exceptions depending on access and use. We include the correct covering in the scope, and it is one of the things inspectors look for.
Stop cooling your attic
Free assessment, scoped written price, most attics done in a day.