Rochester Hills Spray Foam InsulationClosed-Cell & Open-Cell Spray Foam · Air SealingFree quote
Air Sealing · Rochester Hills

Air Sealing For Drafty Rochester Hills Homes

Air sealing tracks down the hidden leaks that drain your heat. We seal them tight, so your Rochester Hills home holds its warmth and the drafts stop.

❦1 day installs · typical timeline

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Technician applying foam sealant along a basement rim joist
Red blower-door fan fitted into a home's front entry
Close-up of foam sealant filling a gap around pipe
What we install

Close The Leaks And Stop The Drafts

Air sealing is the work we do first when a Rochester Hills home feels drafty no matter how high you set the heat. Warm air rises. All winter it pushes up and slips out through gaps in the attic, and as it leaves, it pulls cold air in low, through the rim joist and around the doors. That slow pull is why one room feels like a wind tunnel and the furnace never quite catches up. Most of these leaks hide where you never look, the top of a wall, the hole cut for a wire, the gap around a light can. We track them down and close them. Air sealing is also the step that makes your attic insulation actually work, because foam laid over an open leak does almost nothing.

Air sealing is mostly careful detail work, not one big machine. We start by finding the leaks. On many jobs we run a blower door test, a fan that sits in your front door and pulls air out of the house so every draft shows itself. Then we go spot to spot. Around pipes and wires we lay a bead of foam sealant. Along the top plates in the attic we seal the long seams where the wall meets the ceiling. Big gaps at the rim joist get filled, and the attic hatch gets weatherstripped so it closes tight. Where the wall meets a window or door, we seal the gap behind the trim. None of it is glamorous. Done right, it is the cheapest comfort you will ever buy for an old house.

  • Air sealing finds the hidden leaks first, often with a blower door test.
  • Sealing stops the cold drafts that pour in low all winter.
  • Your attic insulation finally works once the air leaks are closed.
  • A tighter house holds heat, so the furnace runs less.
  • Fewer drafts mean fewer cold spots and less dust pulled inside.
Air sealing is the cheapest comfort upgrade an old Michigan house can get, and the one most people skip.

We work Rochester Hills and the rest of Oakland County, and air sealing is part of nearly every job we take. We know the homes here. From the drafty homes with two floors around Troy to the older colonials near downtown Rochester, we have crawled the attics and felt where a Michigan winter gets in. So when we come out, we look for the real leaks and tell you straight which ones are worth sealing and which ones barely matter. Sometimes the rim joist and the attic hatch are the whole fix, and we will say so rather than sell you more. We show up when we say we will, we protect your floors, and we walk the work with you before we leave.

If your house feels drafty and the heat never quite catches up, air sealing is where to start. Get your free air sealing quote today.

Materials

What Goes Into A Thorough Air Sealing Job

A good air sealing job starts with finding the leaks, not guessing at them. Air sneaks through dozens of small gaps you would never spot from a ladder. The seam where a wall top plate meets the ceiling, the hole drilled for a wire, the gap around a plumbing stack, the chase that runs up past the chimney. A blower door test pulls air from the house so each of these leaks gives itself away. A cheap crew skips the test and seals only what is easy to reach, which leaves the worst leaks hiding up in the attic. Those are the ones that cost you.

Doing the air sealing in the right order is the other half. We work from the top of the house down, because the attic is where the warm air escapes and pulls the rest of the draft along behind it. Up there we seal the top plates, the wire and pipe holes, the gaps around recessed lights, and the hatch you climb through. Then we move low to the rim joist and the spots where the house meets the foundation. Small gaps get a bead of sealant. Bigger ones get foam or a rigid cover cut to fit. We seal before we add insulation, because insulation laid over an open leak just lets the air slip past it.

  • We find the air leaks with a blower door test, not a guess.
  • Top plates, wire holes, and light cans sealed in the attic.
  • Rim joist and foundation gaps sealed down low.
  • Small gaps caulked, big ones filled with foam or a cover.
  • Every leak sealed before new insulation goes down.
Attic top plate and penetrations sealed with cured foam
Person relaxing by a window seat on a cold day
What about the alternatives?

Air Sealing Against The Other Fixes

People fight a draft a few different ways, and some of the common fixes barely help. Here is how the choices compare for a Rochester Hills home.

A full air sealing pass

We hunt down the leaks with a blower door test, then seal them from the attic all the way down to the rim joist. It treats the draft right at the source. That is why it is the first thing we do on a leaky home.

Recommended

Adding insulation without sealing

Piling new insulation over unsealed gaps feels like progress. It is not. The air keeps moving right through it, so you pay for the insulation and still feel the draft, which is why the leaks have to be sealed first.

Skip

Weatherstripping the doors yourself

Fresh weatherstripping on doors and windows is cheap, and worth doing. We are always glad when a homeowner has already done it. It just misses the big hidden leaks up in the attic and down at the rim joist, which is where most of the air actually goes.

Acceptable

Doing nothing

Nothing changes. The drafts stay, the furnace keeps running long, and the cold rooms never warm up, while the old weatherstripping keeps aging and more gaps open, so waiting tends to cost more in the end.

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How it goes

From quote to walk-on, fast.

1

Free walk-through

A short on-site visit. We look at the job in person and write a fixed quote on paper, not over the phone.

2

Prep the surface

The slow, unglamorous step most shortcuts skip. Done right here so the finish actually holds.

3

Do the work

A local crew runs the job in the order that lasts, with the materials named in the quote.

4

Walk it together

We hand the work back with a final walk-through, so you see exactly what was done and why.

Before you book

A Few Things Homeowners Ask First

Air sealing is a smaller job than a full insulation install, but it still pays to ask a few questions before you book. Here are the ones we hear most.

Is air sealing really worth it on its own?

Often, yes. Air sealing is one of the cheapest ways to make a drafty house feel better, because you are closing the exact paths the cold uses to get in. On many Rochester Hills homes the air leaks waste more heat than thin insulation does. We can seal the worst spots in a day, and most folks feel the difference the same week, in fewer drafts and a furnace that cycles less.

What is a blower door test and do I need one?

A blower door is a fan we fit into an outside doorway. It pulls air out of the house so the leaks show themselves, and we can feel exactly where the cold gets in. Not every job needs one. On an older home with mystery drafts, it is the most honest way to plan the air sealing, so we seal the spots that matter and skip the ones that do not. We talk it over with you before we set it up.

Will air sealing make my house too tight to breathe?

It is a fair worry, but the answer is no for almost every older home we seal. Houses around Rochester Hills leak so much air to start with that sealing the worst gaps only brings them to a healthy level. We close holes you never wanted. We do not wrap the house in plastic. If a home is already very tight, we talk through fresh air options first. That is rare on the older houses where air sealing helps the most.

How long does an air sealing job take?

Most air sealing jobs we wrap up in a single day. Sealing the rim joist and the attic bypasses on a normal house takes a few hours of careful work, while a larger home with a lot of leaks may run closer to a full day. If we run a blower door test, that adds a little time up front but pays for itself by showing us where to work. We protect your floors, do the sealing, and clean up before we go.

Aftercare

Living With A Sealed House After We Leave

The nice thing about air sealing is that it asks almost nothing of you once it is done. The sealant and foam we use stay put, so there is nothing to reapply every season the way you might recaulk a tub. You do not paint it or treat it, and most of it sits out of sight in the attic and along the rim joist anyway. The one habit worth keeping is a quick check during any other attic or basement work, just to be sure no one has pulled a seal loose while running a new wire or pipe. If a trade does open up a spot we sealed, give us a call and we will close it back up. Watch your drafts too. If a room that went quiet starts to feel breezy again, that is usually a sign a new gap has opened, and it is an easy fix to chase down.

  • No reapplying. The sealant and foam hold over the years.
  • Take a look if another trade opens the attic or basement.
  • Call us to reseal any spot that gets cut into later.
  • If a quiet room turns breezy again, a new gap has opened.
Technician applying foam sealant along a basement rim joist
A Rochester Hills Home, Sealed Tight
FAQ

Air Sealing Questions Homeowners Ask

What is the difference between open-cell and closed-cell spray foam?

Closed cell foam is dense and hard. It packs a high R-value into a thin layer and blocks both air and water, which is why we reach for it on rim joists and crawl spaces where the cold sits right against the wood. Open cell foam is the lighter one. It expands to fill a whole wall bay and quiets the room while it seals, and we pick the foam that fits the space before we ever spray.

Is spray foam insulation worth it for an older Rochester Hills home?

For most older homes here, yes. The attic floor, the top of the walls, and the rim joist are where the air leaks worst, and once we seal those gaps the furnace runs less and the cold rooms finally warm up. We come out and find the real problem. Then we put a free quote in writing before you owe us a thing.

How much can spray foam insulation lower my energy bills?

It depends. How leaky your home is now, and where we seal it, decides how much you save, but most homes bleed heat through the attic and the rim joist. Close those gaps and the furnace cycles less. We give you an honest read instead of a wild promise.

Is spray foam insulation safe once it is fully cured?

Yes. Once the foam cures hard it turns inert, and it stays put in your walls and attic without giving off fumes. The key is a clean mix and a full cure. So we run our gear by the numbers, watch the set on every pass, and air the space out before you move back in.

Can you spray foam over my existing insulation, or does it need to come out first?

It depends on what is there now. Old, wet, or moldy insulation has to come out first, because foam will not stick to a dirty or damp surface. Dry, sound insulation can sometimes stay. We check the space and tell you which way makes sense for your home.

Ready for a quote in Rochester Hills?

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