About 59 percent of Camrose homes were built before 1991, and in a stock that age there is one thing in the attic that has to be identified before anything is added. Attic spray foam insulation in Camrose regularly meets recessed light fixtures that were never designed to be covered, and burying them is both a fire risk and the reason a lot of attics end up with holes deliberately left in the insulation.
Not every recessed fixture may be covered
Older recessed lights are designed to shed heat upward into the attic. Cover one and the heat has nowhere to go. That is why the safe practice for decades was to leave a clear gap around each fixture, and why an attic with a dozen of them can have a dozen deliberate openings in its insulation, each one an open channel between the heated house and the cold roof space. The insulation looks complete from the hatch and is not.
The two honest ways to deal with it
Either the fixture is replaced with one rated to be covered and sealed, or it is enclosed in a purpose-built airtight box that keeps the insulation off it while closing the air path. Both are real work and both belong in the quote. What is not acceptable is spraying up to the fixture and leaving the gap, because that is exactly the leak the job was meant to close.
Why this matters more than the depth number
A ceiling with several open penetrations moves a great deal of air regardless of how much insulation sits around them. Adding depth over an unsealed ceiling plane spends money on the part that was already working. On a house of this age the fixtures, the top plates, the plumbing stack, the bathroom fan and the hatch are the job, and the depth comes afterwards.
What foam is for up here
It is the sealing layer and the answer to the awkward junctions where nothing cut to size will fit. Bulk depth over the flat is usually better value as blown insulation on top of that seal, because depth is cheap by the bag and expensive by the board foot. A quote to spray an entire attic to full depth is the most expensive shape this job has.
Keep the eaves breathing
Attics of this vintage were insulated shallow and rarely have baffles at the eaves. Any new depth pushed into the eave can block the soffit vents, which turns a heat-loss problem into a moisture one. Fitting baffles is a small part of the work and prevents that outright.
Attic Spray Foam Insulation Camrose: Common Questions
Can insulation be laid over recessed lights? Not over older fixtures designed to shed heat upward. They are either replaced with a rated sealed type or enclosed properly, and both belong in the quote.
Our attic looks full but the house is draughty - why? Very often deliberate gaps left around fixtures and unsealed penetrations. The insulation is complete and the ceiling plane is not.
Should we add depth first? No. Seal the ceiling plane, then add depth. Depth over an unsealed ceiling spends money on the part that was already doing its job.
Size the job with the R-value calculator, then get a free Camrose quote. More on Attic Spray Foam Insulation Alberta province-wide.