Chicago houses lose heat in the same five places. We fix all five.
Spray foam, blown-in, injection foam, batts, and removal. Twenty-plus years in the city and the suburbs. Tap a part of the house to see what we would do there.
The roof deck
If the attic is finished, or the furnace lives up there, the roof deck itself is the thing to insulate. Closed-cell spray foam under the deck turns the whole attic into conditioned space and stops ice dams at the source.
What we use: closed-cell spray foam, R-6 to R-7 per inch.
Typical house: finished attic, cathedral ceiling, new construction.
The attic floor
The biggest leak in most Chicago houses, and the cheapest to fix. We seal the gaps around pipes, wires and the hatch first, then blow in cellulose to R-49. Skipping the sealing step is why some attic jobs do not seem to help.
What we use: air sealing, then blown-in cellulose or fiberglass. Removal first if the old stuff is wet or chewed.
Typical house: bungalow, ranch, Cape, two-flat.
The walls
Houses built before the 1970s often have nothing in the walls at all. Injection foam goes in through small holes drilled from outside and fills the cavity. No plaster comes down. Open walls during a remodel get batts or open-cell foam.
What we use: pour-in-place injection foam for closed walls. Batts or open-cell foam for open walls.
Typical house: frame cottage, two-flat, anything pre-war.
The rim joist
The band of wood where the house sits on the foundation. It is thin, full of gaps, and almost never insulated. Two inches of closed-cell foam here is a half-day job and one of the best-value things we do.
What we use: closed-cell spray foam.
Typical house: every house with a basement.
Basement and crawlspace
Cold floors upstairs usually start here. We seal and insulate crawlspace walls, and foam the basement walls when you are finishing the space. A sealed crawlspace also stops the musty smell.
What we use: closed-cell spray foam on walls, vapor barrier on the floor of a crawlspace.
Typical house: split-level, raised ranch, any house with a crawl.
is what the average home saves on heating and cooling by air sealing and insulating the attic, crawlspace and basement. That is the EPA’s ENERGY STAR number, not ours, and on a Chicago gas bill it is real money.
From the truck
Phone photos from the crew, posted as jobs finish. No stock, no staging. [Replace with real jobsite photos and captions.]
We know your house
Chicago built the same handful of houses over and over. After twenty years we have been inside most of them, and we usually know what we will find before we open the hatch.
The brick bungalow
Low hip roof, so the attic is tight and hard to work in. Usually a few inches of rock wool from the 1920s. Air seal the attic floor, blow in cellulose, foam the rim joist. One day.
The two-flat and three-flat
Flat roof, shared walls, two or three units with separate furnaces and separate gas bills. The attic over the top unit matters most. Walls are often empty. We phase the work between tenants.
The frame worker cottage
Narrow, gabled, balloon-framed, and the walls are hollow from basement to attic. Injection foam from outside is the fix. Then the attic, then the rim joist. The drafts stop the same week.
The suburban split-level
Half the house sits over a crawlspace and that is why the family room is freezing. Seal the crawl, foam its walls, top up the attic over the bedrooms. Usually one day.
New construction, additions and commercial buildings too. Builders: send us the plans and we will price it from the drawings.
The shop
[Owner’s own words. Two or three short paragraphs, first person. Where you grew up, how long you have been doing this, which houses you know best, and the one thing you refuse to cut corners on. Written by the owner, lightly edited.]
[Second paragraph. Something concrete: a job that went sideways and how it was fixed, or why the crew air seals before blowing in when plenty of outfits skip it.]
- In business since
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- Licensed & insured
- Illinois
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[Paste one real review in full here, the longer and more specific the better. Keep the customer’s own phrasing, including the parts that are not polished.]
[First name, last initial], [Town]. From Google, [month year]. Read all reviews
Get a price
One form for every job, from a single attic to a 40-unit building. A person reads it and calls you back the same business day.
Your home
We come out, look at the five places, and give you a written number, usually the same day. It is free, it takes about half an hour, and nobody will call you after unless you ask.
Your project
Builders, remodelers and property managers: attach the plans and we price it from the drawings, line by line, with no site visit for new construction. We schedule around your other trades and your inspector. Certificates of insurance, lien waivers and product data sheets on request.
Weekdays 7 to 6. office@allininsulating.com
City of Chicago plus Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane and McHenry counties. [Confirm the service area.] Illinois utility rebates may cover part of the cost and we handle the paperwork. [Confirm current ComEd and Nicor Gas programs.]