Spray Foam Insulation in Grand Rapids, MI

Spray Foam Insulation in Grand Rapids starts with the age of the houses. Census survey figures for 2019 to 2023, published by Point2, put 37.5% of the city's housing in the built-1939-or-earlier group, plus 8.7% from the 1940s and 13.2% from the 1950s. Only about 11% was built after 2000. That makes Grand Rapids a city of plaster walls, balloon framing, kneewall attics and fieldstone or block basements, and each of those needs a different approach.

Heritage Hill and the historic districts

Heritage Hill, just east of downtown, has about 1,300 homes dating from 1848 in more than 60 architectural styles. The city has six local historic districts, and its Historic Preservation Commission reviews exterior renovation in them. When walls in a historic house need filling, we can often drill from inside through the plaster so nothing changes outside. In big Victorian houses the attic, the third floor and the rim joist are usually the biggest heat losses.

Bungalows and post-war houses

Outside the oldest neighborhoods, many streets are lined with 1920s bungalows and 1940s and 1950s cape cods and ranches. Cape cods have sloped ceilings and kneewall attics on the second floor, which run hot in summer and cold in winter. Sealing the kneewall pockets, insulating the slopes and topping up the small flat attic above usually fixes the upstairs.

Winter and utilities

Grand Rapids averages about 75.6 inches of snow a year, and January highs average 31.0 degrees with lows of 18.6. Ice dams are common on houses with leaky attics. Natural gas in much of the area comes from DTE, whose rebate page lists $600 for at least 500 square feet of attic insulation in homes it heats.

Balloon framing and the chimney effect

A lot of pre-war Grand Rapids houses are balloon framed, with studs that run unbroken from the sill to the roof. Cold air enters at the bottom of those channels and warm air escapes at the top, so the house acts like a chimney. Before we fill walls we plug the cavity tops from the attic and the bottoms from the basement, and often that alone makes the first floor noticeably warmer.

Renters and landlords

With 46% of occupied homes rented, many calls come from landlords with drafty duplexes and converted houses. We can phase the work, attic first and walls later, and schedule foam days when units are empty.

Call (616) 219-1886 or book a visit and we will look at your Grand Rapids house from the attic to the basement. Get a free estimate