When to Hire a Professional Contractor for Installing Insulation
Can Adding Insulation Be a DIY Project?
It is well known by now that your home can benefit from insulation in more than one way. Adding proper insulation to your walls, floors, loft and basement spaces can upgrade the overall structure of your property, improve its energy efficiency thus lowering your energy bills and add a level of protection against some other menaces such as mould, damp or pests. This is why investing into your home’s insulation is never a waste of money but on the contrary, quite a smart investment. However, insulation projects are often quite expensive why you always need detailed and careful planning in regard to all the aspects, including the cost of the insulation product, necessary repair and reconstruction work and the overall installation costs. It is not uncommon for people to try to somehow lower their costs, why they often decide to try to add insulation themselves, regardless of whether they are building their home or only planning a refurbishment project. Nevertheless, some insulation projects can be quite complicated and include a number of different installation techniques which require professional skills and knowledge, why it would probably be smarter to hire a professional for the job. Well, this is the issue that we will address here and that is when to hire a professional contractor for installing insulation.
DIY or Not?
Before making the final decision whether to hire a professional insulation installer, it is important to understand the scope of work of your insulation project. This will depend on many things, including the following:
-
whether you are adding insulation in the construction or reconstruction phase. If you are in the process of building your home, then insulation should be included in your building plans, since can even be easier bearing in mind the fact that you will not have to deal with some issues that can arise from reconstruction projects (like damaged insulation that needs to be removed, asbestos, adjoining structural elements repairs etc).
-
the chosen insulation material. Please note that some insulation materials are much easier to install then other due to the fact that some include special equipment and special installation techniques while others can simply be rolled and pinned to the designated area.
-
the area under insulation. This is a very important fact to consider when deciding whether to hire a professional for installing insulation. You will notice that some areas are more accessible than others and thus easier to insulate. For example, if you are adding insulation to your walls and opt for interior wall insulation, this may involve only attaching rigid insulation boards to the wall or adding some fibre insulation such as rock wool. On the other hand, if you are insulating your loft or roof, this may include additional repair work such as lifting the roof cover, removing and replacing damaged tiles, installing additional beams and other structural elements.
Now, even if you have decided to undertake a DIY project instead of engaging a professional insulation contractor, we would advise that you anyway hire a professional to conduct an energy efficiency inspection of your home. This will help you determine all the work that will have to be carried out in order of successfully finalizing your project. Note that this may include a number of things such as removal and disposal of existing, damaged insulation, structural elements repair, obtaining necessary permits and licenses (if required), providing adequate tools and equipment, mould and insects infestation inspection, proper seal and covers for lights, vents and eaves etc.
Pros and Cons of Hiring a Professional
Probably the most important advantage of hiring a professional insulation installer refers to the overall efficiency of the project. Since professionals already have the necessary level of expertise and all the necessary tools and equipment, you can rest assure that the job will be done timely and properly. In order of making sure that you have chosen the right person for the job, we advise you always consult more than one potential candidate for the job and determine all the aspects of the job, especially the scope of work, timeline and the overall costs. However, since the project can be influenced by many things during implementation, it is very important to count on some additional expenses that were not a part of your budget plan initially. This is probably the biggest con against hiring a professional contractor for installing insulation since labour costs will be surely higher. Nevertheless, this way you get a kind of guarantee that the job will be done properly and all aspects of adding insulation covered.
Another thing you should count on is that hired professional insulation installer will have all the relevant information on necessary permits and standards that your project needs to be in compliance with, including building, energy efficiency and insulation standards and values. Also, another important thing refers to potential safety issues. As upper mentioned, some areas within your home can be somewhat hazardous and require additional attention and safety measures. For example, lofts can be filled with wires and mechanical vents that you need to be aware of, not to mention loose and unsteady floorboards. Apart from this, installing some type of insulation materials must include using safety equipment (such as eye goggles, face mask, gloves etc) which is the case with fibre insulation for example. Finally, if installing insulation includes removing existing insulation, a professional should be aware of the fact how asbestos insulation (if any) can be dangerous and should know how to deal with it.
Buy insulation online and get a fast delivery. Visit our online shop or contact us via email or phone.