Attic insulation in Edmonton and St. Albert

Ice dams in March. A second floor that’s freezing in January and stifling in July. Heating bills that keep climbing. In most Edmonton homes, the cause is the same: an attic that was insulated to the code of the year the house was built, which for anything before 2010 means R-20 to R-30. Alberta’s current code is R-50. Reid’s has been topping up attics as long as we’ve been putting on roofs, because the two problems are usually the same problem.

Why your roofer should look at your insulation

An under-insulated attic lets heat escape through the roof deck, melts the snow from underneath, and refreezes it at the eaves. That’s an ice dam. It backs water up under the shingles and into the house, and no amount of new roofing fixes it if the attic underneath is still leaking heat. We check insulation depth and ventilation on every roof inspection we do, and we’ll tell you when the attic is the thing to fix first.

Blown-in attic insulation

Cellulose or fibreglass blown over your existing insulation to bring it up to R-50 or higher. This is the most cost-effective upgrade for the majority of Edmonton and St. Albert homes: a crew is in and out in a morning, nothing in the house is disturbed, and the difference shows up on the next heating bill. We install baffles at the eaves first so the new insulation doesn’t block your soffit venting.

Spray foam insulation

Closed-cell spray foam for the places batts and blown-in can’t seal: attic penetrations around plumbing stacks and pot lights, rim joists, cathedral ceilings, garages and bonus rooms over garages. It insulates and air-seals in one pass. We often combine a spray-foam air seal at the attic floor with blown-in on top; that combination is what stops ice dams for good.

Insulation removal

Old insulation that’s been wet, mouldy, compressed flat, or visited by mice or squirrels isn’t worth insulating over. We vacuum it out, dispose of it, air-seal the attic floor, and start clean.

Attic ventilation

Insulation without ventilation creates a different problem: moisture, frost on the underside of the roof deck, and shingles that fail early. We add or correct soffit vents, roof vents and baffles so the attic can breathe, and we do it as part of the insulation job, not as a separate call.

What it costs and what it saves

A blown-in top-up for a typical Edmonton bungalow or two-storey is one of the least expensive upgrades you can make to a house, and it’s one of the few that pays for itself. Every job starts with a free attic assessment: we measure the existing depth, check the venting, photograph any problems, and give you a written quote with options. Financing is available through Financeit and Snap.

Serving Edmonton, St. Albert and the surrounding region

Edmonton, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Morinville, Fort Saskatchewan, Leduc and Beaumont. Same crews, same 10-year workmanship warranty as every Reid’s roof.