Does Your Insulation Need to be Removed?

If you have an older home and you’ve noticed some small white flecks around your registers or if you’ve noticed that your attic seems extremely dusty, you might be wondering if your insulation needs to be removed.

 Some homeowners worry that their insulation will powder to dust as it gets older and not be as effective as it should be. Others fear that the dust from the powdering insulation will ruin the home’s air quality and cause respiratory issues in the people and pets that live there. 

If you’ve been wondering whether or not your insulation needs to be removed and replaced, it’s best to have a professional come and check your home. But in general, the only situations where old insulation needs to be removed from a home are:

• Pest Damage

If you have rats, roaches, mice, or other pests that get into the insulation in your attic and make nests there, the insulation will have to be removed and replaced for safety. Rat droppings are toxic to humans. Pests can infiltrate your home and cause damage or create unsanitary conditions. Once the pests are in the house, the only way to get rid of them is to remove the insulation and replace it.

• Water Damage

If a loose shingle on the roof has let water leak into the attic, a crack in the roof, or some damage has allowed water to seep into the attic, then the insulation will need to be removed and replaced. 

Mold can grow in the wet insulation and become a big problem.

However, suppose you know that only a small section was affected by the water, and the insulation is still pretty good overall. In that case, it may be possible just to remove the damaged section of the insulation and replace it. You may not have to remove all of the insulation.
There are also some times when homeowners don’t need to have their insulation removed.

Do You Need To Have Misaligned Insulation Removed?

If you’re a homeowner with an energy audit done or a green audit to try and find more environmentally friendly ways to heat and cool your home, you may be told that your insulation is misaligned and has to be removed and replaced. 

But that’s not always the case. If your insulation is fairly new and in good shape but not aligned within the space, it’s possible to realign the existing insulation rather than remove it and replace it. 

Contact Anderson Insulation

If you want to know if your home’s insulation needs to be removed, call Anderson Insulation today for a free assessment of the insulation in your home.