Most New Jersey houses built before the 1990s have four to six inches of tired insulation in the attic — about R-11 to R-19 — over a ceiling full of holes: can lights, plumbing chases, the top of every wall. Heat pours out in winter and the attic bakes the bedrooms in summer. We seal the holes first, then blow cellulose or fiberglass to R-49 or better, add baffles so the soffits can breathe, and get the bath fans venting outside instead of into the insulation. One crew, one day for most houses.
Free attic inspection · itemized price on the spot · no deposit
Licensed & insured · 2,000+ NJ projects · 7 years · a real person answers 24/7
Most New Jersey houses built before the 1990s have four to six inches of tired insulation in the attic — about R-11 to R-19 — over a ceiling full of holes: can lights, plumbing chases, the top of every wall. Typical price: $2.2K – $6.5K. Licensed & insured, written itemized price before work starts, no deposit, one dedicated crew. Serving all 21 New Jersey counties from Paramus. Call (201) 676-3099 or book a free estimate.
Heat rises. In winter, the warm air you paid for goes up through the ceiling, through thin insulation, and out the roof — then it melts snow that refreezes at the eaves as ice dams. In summer, the attic hits 130 degrees and radiates down through that same thin layer, so the second floor never cools and the AC runs all night.
New construction in New Jersey is now built to roughly R-49 to R-60 in the attic. Taking an older attic from R-13 to R-49 is one of the few projects that pays you back on the gas and electric bill every month, and it makes the upstairs livable. We won't quote you a savings number — every house is different, and anyone who promises one is guessing — but we'll show you before-and-after with a thermal camera.
Insulation slows heat. It doesn't stop air. Every attic has holes: the gap around the plumbing stack, the chase behind the chimney, the tops of interior walls, the open box around each recessed light, the hatch you climb through. Warm, wet house air streams up through those, wets the insulation and frosts the underside of the roof. Blowing new insulation over open holes is insulating a colander.
So we go in first with foam and fire-rated sealant and close every one we can find — and we put airtight covers over the can lights so insulation can go on top of them safely. Then the hatch gets weatherstripped and an insulated cover. Then we blow.
Blown cellulose is recycled paper treated with borate. It packs denser, blocks air movement better, and is what we use for most attics. Blown fiberglass doesn't settle, doesn't hold water if the roof leaks, and is a little lighter — better over a plaster ceiling that's already sagging. Both reach R-49 in about 14 to 18 inches. Spray foam on the underside of the roof turns the attic into conditioned space; it's the right answer for a finished attic or when the ductwork lives up there, and it's several times the cost. We'll tell you which your house needs and price it.
An attic needs cold air in at the soffits and warm air out at the ridge. Insulation shoved into the eaves blocks the soffits, and then the attic goes stale, moisture builds, the roof deck grows mold and the shingles cook from underneath. We install baffles at every rafter bay before we blow so the air path stays open, and if there's no ridge vent or the soffits are solid, we say so — and we cut them in. Bath fans that dump into the attic get a real duct to a roof or wall cap. That's not an upsell; it's the thing that keeps the new insulation dry.
If your roof is due in the next few years, do them together. With the shingles off, we can set baffles from above, cut in a proper ridge vent, replace the bath fan caps and check the deck for the mold that bad ventilation leaves behind. You get one crew, one price and one disruption. If the roof is fine, we do everything from inside through the hatch, and the mess stays in the attic.
We go into the attic with a light and a ruler: depth and type of existing insulation, air leaks, soffit and ridge venting, fan ducts, wiring. If we find old knob-and-tube wiring, we say so — it can't be buried in insulation, and our electricians replace it first. If we see vermiculite, we stop and get it tested before anyone touches it.
Itemized: air sealing, baffles, hatch, fan ducting, insulation type and depth to a named R-value, and removal if the old material is wet or contaminated.
Most attics are sealed, baffled and blown in one day. The hose runs through a window or the hatch; the blower stays in the driveway. We put down floor protection and vacuum the landing before we leave.
We measure the depth with rulers set every few feet — it's how the inspector checks it too — and show you photos of the sealed penetrations.
Paramus-based, insulating attics across all 21 New Jersey counties. Ask about doing it with your roof, your mini-split, or your attic conversion — we do all three.
typical fixed-price range — your exact number goes in writing after a free visit
How we beat the big chains: Insulation chains price by the 'energy savings' pitch, not by the bag, and they skip the air sealing that makes it work. No franchise fees, no commissioned salesmen, no rented subcontractors — that's typically 15–30% under national-brand quotes for the same or better spec. Bring us any written quote and we'll match the scope line by line.
“They blew a foot of insulation over the soffits. Now my roof deck is black with mold.”
“The 'energy audit' guy sold me insulation. My house is just as drafty.”
“They buried my bathroom fan duct in the insulation and now the ceiling has a wet spot.”
You found a crew that is actually near you. First Call Contracting is based in Paramus, in Bergen County, and our own licensed techs handle attic insulation in all 21 New Jersey counties — no call center, no subcontractor sent from two states away. Most of Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex is 15 to 30 minutes from our shop, and emergencies go to the nearest crew, 24/7.
Closest to us: Bergen CountyPassaic CountyHudson CountyEssex CountyMorris CountyUnion CountyAll 21 counties & 219+ towns →
Call (201) 676-3099, text us a photo, or book a free in-home estimate — you get a written price before any work starts.
Air sealing plus blown insulation to R-49 in a typical 1,200-to-1,800-square-foot attic runs about $2,200 to $6,500, depending on how many leaks we're sealing, how many fans need ducts, and whether old material has to come out. Spray foam on the roof deck is several times that. Fixed, itemized, after a free attic inspection.
New construction in New Jersey is built to about R-49 to R-60 in the attic — roughly 14 to 20 inches of blown material. If you can see the tops of your ceiling joists, you have less than R-19 and you're losing money every month.
Usually, yes — after we seal the leaks under it. We remove the old material only if it's wet, moldy or rodent-soiled, or if it's vermiculite that tests positive for asbestos, in which case a licensed abatement contractor removes it before we start.
It's the fix. Ice dams form when heat leaks into the attic and melts the snow on the roof, which refreezes at the cold eave. Air sealing and proper insulation keep the attic cold, so the snow stays snow. Roof-edge heat cables treat the symptom; this treats the cause.
Most houses are done in a day: sealing in the morning, baffles and fan ducts, blowing in the afternoon. Big attics or ones that need removal first take two.
New Jersey's utilities run efficiency programs that change year to year. We'll point you to the current one and give you the paperwork you'd need — the R-value, the square footage and an itemized invoice — but we don't sell financing or promise a rebate amount.
In an older New Jersey house running three or four inches of settled insulation, sealing the attic floor and blowing it back up to code depth is usually the single cheapest comfort upgrade you can buy — much better dollar-for-dollar than replacing decent windows. Expect the rooms over the garage and at the end of the hall to stop being the cold ones, and expect the furnace to cycle less. We won't quote you a percentage off your PSE&G bill, because nobody honest can.
Yes. Modern blown cellulose and fiberglass are treated, tested products, and we keep them out of your living space — the crew works from the attic, masks and seals the hatch, and vacuums the path in and out. We also air-seal top plates and can-light penetrations first, which is what keeps dust and attic air from drifting down into bedrooms. If your attic has vermiculite from the 1960s or 70s, we stop and tell you, because that gets tested before anyone disturbs it.
If you're anywhere in New Jersey, yes. First Call Contracting is based in Paramus and handles attic insulation across all 21 counties with our own licensed crew. Most of Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex is 15 to 30 minutes from our shop, and emergencies are dispatched to the nearest crew 24/7. Call (201) 676-3099 or book a free in-home estimate.
Sealed first · blown to R-49+ · baffled and vented · done in a day
Or call Alex direct: (201) 676-3099
A real person picks up every hour of every day. We tell you what to shut off first, then send the nearest crew.