Wall Insulation in Appleton, WI

Wall insulation is the step many older Appleton houses never got. Homes built before the 1950s often have exterior walls with nothing in the cavities at all, and later homes may have thin batts that have slumped. Empty walls feel cold to the touch in January and make rooms along outside walls hard to keep warm.

Dense-pack cellulose for closed walls

To fill a wall without removing plaster or drywall, we drill a hole into each stud bay, usually from outside after lifting a course of siding, sometimes from inside. Cellulose is blown in at high density so it fills the whole cavity, packs around wiring and blocking and resists settling. The holes are plugged and patched. HomeGuide prices dense-pack cellulose at $1.60 to $4.20 per square foot.

Spray foam for open walls

When walls are open during a remodel, an addition or new construction, spray foam fills the cavities and seals the sheathing and framing joints. Closed cell gives the most R-value per inch, which helps in 2x4 walls. The Wisconsin code summary lists R-20 or R-13 plus R-5 continuous for new wood-frame walls in Zone 6.

Checks before we fill

Knob-and-tube wiring should not be buried in insulation, so we look for it first and recommend an electrician where needed. We also check for moisture problems, such as leaky windows or siding, which need fixing before a wall is filled.