Insulation in Old Home

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Insulation in Old Home

Brian Oney
Investor · Roanoke, TX · Member since 2013 · 49 posts · 26 votes

High Level Question: At what point would you spend money to add insulation to the attic of an old home rental (and hopefully leading to lower heating costs for tenants/not requiring them to buy a room heating unit)?

Details:

We bought the house as our primary residence 2 years before we were both laid off, so needless to say we didn't get a lot accomplished on it before we had to move for a new job. The house was built in 1910, wood frame and I just re-checked the attic on our way through (we live out of state) yesterday - it has about 2-3 inches of old blown insulation.

We of course didn't buy this as an investment property, so we are only $150 over the mortgage, insurance and taxes on a monthly basis. So we aren't swimming in money, ha.

I figure that the attic is #1 priority for insulation and I know our natural gas heating bills ran what seemed to be high while we lived there. Should we spend the $500-700 to add insulation to the recommended level? As a side note, we need to repaint in the spring as the paint on the wood siding is in rough shape (roughly $4000-4500 in all).

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  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    12y

    I don't care for portable space heating units in a rental so it would help if you could elaborate on what you mean by " not requiring them to buy a room heating unit'. Is there a room that does not heat to a comfortable 68 degrees? Is attic insulation going to solve that or do you need a permanent heating unit added to that room? you want to be sure you are addressing the right issue.

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  • Winston Risser
    Rental Property Investor · Redmond, OR · Member since 2012 · 72 posts · 13 votes
    12y

    I would wait till i had money saved and set aside for it. How bad is the old insulation ? If it was a faulty electrical or plumbing system then you would not be providing safe housing. I would say it is not as important as paint and i would not put myself in a bind to update the insulation, But if you had the money laying around and you wanted to do it then its not a bad thing.

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  • David Krulac
    Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    @Brian Oney

    The good news is that natural gas is the cheapest way to heat.

    We have insulated attics in rental properties where possible, sometimes exceeding the recommended R factor. We did one this year where we did R-50 attic blown in fiberglass. We also did that previously in a house built in 1840 obviously with no insulation.

    We're in for the long haul and want energy usage to be as low as we can. And when we do sell we make sure to advertise the extra insulation and low heat costs.

    We've also replaced almost all oil heat with gas heat and have updated other gas furnaces with new more efficient units in rental properties.

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  • Rob K.
    Investor · Southeast, MI · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    Not sure if you want to do this yourself, but the insulation is cheap. If you buy it at HD, they will let you use their machine for free. It's a two person job, but very easy. One person loads insulation into the hopper and the other person aims the hose where you want the insulation to go.

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  • Stephen S.
    Wholesaler · Holiday, FL · Member since 2013 · 571 posts · 221 votes
    12y
    I like to be the best landlord that I can and so would definitely add insulation to the attic. Do not use fiberglass as the claimed R values are pretty much a scam - especially in an older building.

    Add those cheap foam sheet soffit-blocks to preserve the natural air flow through the rafter spaces and then blow in 8-10" of cellulose evenly over the attic floor.

    Or; that's what I would do. <g>

    Just how big is this house? $4000. pays for A Lot of painting.







    e Originally posted by @Brian Oney:
    High Level Question: At what point would you spend money to add insulation to the attic of an old home rental (and hopefully leading to lower heating costs for tenants/not requiring them to buy a room heating unit)?

    Details:

    We bought the house as our primary residence 2 years before we were both laid off, so needless to say we didn't get a lot accomplished on it before we had to move for a new job. The house was built in 1910, wood frame and I just re-checked the attic on our way through (we live out of state) yesterday - it has about 2-3 inches of old blown insulation.

    We of course didn't buy this as an investment property, so we are only $150 over the mortgage, insurance and taxes on a monthly basis. So we aren't swimming in money, ha.

    I figure that the attic is #1 priority for insulation and I know our natural gas heating bills ran what seemed to be high while we lived there. Should we spend the $500-700 to add insulation to the recommended level? As a side note, we need to repaint in the spring as the paint on the wood siding is in rough shape (roughly $4000-4500 in all).

    0Reply
  • Brian Oney
    OP
    Investor · Roanoke, TX · Member since 2013 · 49 posts · 26 votes
    12y

    @Colleen F. Yeah I am talking about the portable ceramic heaters

    @David Krulac Did you do a before and after analysis of how much the extra insulation reduced the heating bill? The house is in Kansas and I recall bills being as high as $300+ to keep the house at 68-70 degrees.

    @Rob K. The HD DIY is exactly what I am thinking of doing. Still trying to decide between the Owens Corning expanding pink insulation or the "green" cellulose insulation. The latter is definitely cheaper, but the former seems easier to do because the machine is better.

    @Stephen S. So you don't like the pink Owens Corning blown insulation? The house is a 2-story, that is roughly 2000 sq ft. It has an add-on that has vertical paneling. Still trying to decide whether to go back with the vertical siding or go back with actual cedar wood siding to match the house (would cost 3-4x the vertical siding).

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