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Serving Merced, CA and surrounding areas. (209) 308-1176
Serving Merced, CA and surrounding areas. (209) 308-1176
Merced summers are relentless. If your AC runs constantly and your rooms still feel hot, gaps in your ceiling are the likely cause. We seal every leak so your cool air stays in and hot attic air stays out.
Attic air sealing in Merced plugs every gap in the ceiling plane between your living space and the attic above it, stopping conditioned air from escaping, and most single-story homes are fully sealed in four to eight hours without any disruption to the living area below.
Most homeowners assume that adding more insulation is the fix for a hot upstairs or a high PG&E bill. But insulation slows heat transfer. It does not stop air from moving through gaps around recessed lights, plumbing pipes, or the attic hatch. Sealing those gaps first, then insulating, is the combination that actually works. Skipping the sealing step is like putting a blanket over a window you left open.
Many Merced homeowners pair attic air sealing with crawl space vapor barrier installation to address the home envelope from both directions in a single project, closing off air and moisture entry points above and below at the same time.
If bedrooms or any room directly under the attic are noticeably hotter in summer than the rest of the house, heat is moving through your ceiling. In Merced's summers, where temperatures can stay above 90 degrees well into the evening, a poorly sealed attic acts like a heat battery sitting directly above your living space. Your air conditioner may be working fine, but the attic is undoing its work.
If your electricity bill doubles or triples from May through September and your usage habits have not changed, your home is likely losing the battle against heat. A large portion of that cost is often the air conditioner running overtime to compensate for air leaking through the ceiling. A home that holds its temperature well simply does not need to run the AC as hard or as long.
Hold a lit incense stick near the edges of your attic access panel on a windy day. If you see the smoke drift sideways, air is moving through that opening freely. The same test near recessed light fixtures in the ceiling can reveal leaks that are completely invisible otherwise. Any moving air you detect is conditioned air escaping or outside air entering.
Homes built in Merced's older neighborhoods before modern energy codes were in place were not designed with air sealing in mind. If you have lived in your home for years and no one has ever assessed the attic for air leakage, the odds are high that significant gaps exist, not because anything is broken, but because that is how homes of that era were built.
A standalone attic air sealing job is the right starting point for homes where insulation is already present but has never been sealed. Our crew enters the attic and works systematically from one end to the other, applying foam or caulk at every gap they find, including around recessed light fixtures, at wall-ceiling intersections, and wherever plumbing or electrical wiring penetrates the ceiling plane. The work is done from inside the attic, so nothing in your living space is touched.
Most Merced homeowners who have not yet insulated choose to combine air sealing with full attic insulation in the same visit. That combination delivers the highest efficiency gain in a single project and typically costs less than scheduling two separate jobs. We frequently pair this with crawl space vapor barrier installation for homeowners who want to address the whole home envelope at once.
For homeowners who want to know exactly where the leaks are before committing to anything, we offer a diagnostic-first approach using a blower door test. This gives you a real measurement of your home's air leakage rate, so the scope of work is based on data, not guesswork. The same test runs again after the work is done so you have before-and-after numbers confirming the improvement. We also connect this work with broader air sealing services when the whole house envelope needs attention beyond just the attic.
Best for homes where the attic has existing insulation but has never been professionally sealed for air leakage.
Best for homes that need both services, delivering the highest energy efficiency gain in a single project visit.
Best for homeowners who want to know exactly how leaky their home is before committing to any scope of work.
Merced sits in the San Joaquin Valley and regularly sees summer temperatures above 100 degrees, sometimes pushing past 110 during heat events. When outdoor air is that hot, every gap in your ceiling is a direct path for that heat to pour into your living space. Your air conditioner has to fight it constantly. Homeowners here tend to see faster payback on air sealing than homeowners in milder climates, simply because the temperature difference between inside and outside is so extreme for so many months.
A significant portion of Merced's residential neighborhoods, including areas around downtown, older subdivisions near Fahrens Park, and most of the pre-1980 housing stock, contain homes built before air sealing was a standard part of construction. Those homes were built to be ventilated, not sealed, which made sense before central air conditioning became standard. If your home was built before 1990 and has never had sealing work done, the leakage rate is likely high. Homeowners in nearby Turlock and Stockton deal with the same conditions, and we serve all of those communities.
Merced is in PG&E's service territory, and California electricity rates make efficiency improvements pay off faster than the national average. PG&E offers rebates for qualifying energy improvements, and the federal government provides a tax credit for eligible air sealing work. Details on the federal program are available at energystar.gov. We also work frequently in Modesto and throughout the valley, so we know the housing stock and the local rebate programs well.
We ask a few basic questions about your home's age and what problems you are noticing, then schedule an on-site visit. Most Merced-area homes can be assessed within a week or two of your call.
We evaluate the entire house, check existing insulation, and use a blower door test to measure how leaky the home actually is. This gives you a real number to work from, not a guess. The visit usually takes one to two hours.
The crew works systematically through the attic, applying foam or caulk to every gap identified during the assessment. For a typical Merced single-story home, this takes most of a workday. Your living space is not disrupted.
A thorough contractor runs a final blower door test to confirm the leakage rate dropped. We walk you through what was done, provide photos, and give you documentation for any qualifying PG&E rebates and federal tax credits.
Free on-site assessment with blower door testing available. We reply within one business day.
(209) 308-1176Our C-2 Insulation and Acoustical contractor license is active and searchable on the California Contractors State License Board website. Every job carries liability insurance and workers' compensation coverage.
We have worked on homes across Merced, Turlock, Modesto, and nine other San Joaquin Valley communities since 2022. That direct experience with the local housing stock means we know what to expect in pre-1990 attics throughout this region.
We measure your home's air leakage rate at the start and again when the work is done. That gives you a real number confirming how much the leakage dropped, not just our word for it. If a contractor cannot explain how they verify results, that is worth noting.
Merced homeowners have access to PG&E rebates and the federal energy efficiency tax credit for qualifying air sealing work. We provide all the documentation you need to claim both. More detail on current federal programs is available at energystar.gov.
A licensed contractor, measurable results, and handled rebate paperwork are what make an air sealing project worth doing instead of just hoping the problem goes away on its own. We have been doing this work in Merced and across the valley since 2022, and we know how to get homes that were built for a different era performing closer to modern standards. Learn more about building performance certification standards at bpi.org.
Control moisture entering from below the floor while your attic is sealed above, addressing the whole home envelope.
Learn moreBroader whole-home air sealing that goes beyond the attic to address walls, windows, and mechanical penetrations.
Learn moreCall us today or submit an online request. We schedule within one to two weeks, and most jobs are done in a single day without disrupting your home.