Insulation Before & After in El Monte, CA
We’ve insulated and sealed more than 9,000 homes since 2016. Every job starts with a photo of what we found and ends with a photo of what we left. The difference isn’t always dramatic to the eye, but the blower-door numbers don’t lie. Here’s what that looks like in El Monte.
Recent Transformations
Attic Air Sealing + Blown-In Fiberglass, North El Monte
The homeowner on Peck Road called because the second floor ran ten degrees hotter than the first every July afternoon. We found a classic El Monte split-level attic: original 1970s insulation compressed to about R-11, with every can light in the ceiling dumping conditioned air straight into the vented attic. Our crew spent the first day sealing, not insulating - top plates, can light boxes, wire penetrations, the chase around the furnace vent. Blower-door test read 3,800 CFM50 before we started. After sealing and blowing Owens Corning AttiCat fiberglass to R-38, the house tested at 2,100 CFM50. That’s not a feeling. That’s 45% less air leaving the building envelope every hour. The written scope and the after photos went into their file before we packed up.
Crawl Space Encapsulation & Vapor Barrier, Lower Azusa Corridor
This 1954 ranch near Lower Azusa Road had a crawl space that smelled like mildew every time the Santa Ana winds pushed dry air through the vents. The fiberglass batts between joists were black with mold and hanging in strips. We removed the contaminated material, graded the dirt floor, and laid a 20-mil reinforced vapor barrier sealed to the foundation walls with butyl tape. Then we sprayed Demilec closed-cell foam on the rim joists - the transition where the wood frame meets the concrete foundation, which is where most crawl spaces leak air in El Monte’s older housing stock. The homeowner gets a photo record showing every seam and the dehumidifier drain line routing. No more smell. No more batts. The Haven Standard Clause 1 written price was $4,200 before we started; the documented photo record closed the file.
Spray Foam Insulation, New Construction ADU, South El Monte
A contractor on Durfee Avenue was building an ADU for his mother-in-law and wanted it done once, done right. We sprayed Icynene closed-cell foam at 2 inches in the 2×6 walls and 3 inches on the roof deck, creating a continuous thermal boundary with no gaps at studs or plates. The key detail most crews miss: we sprayed the rim joist band where the floor system meets the foundation, because that’s where thermal bridging shows up on the infrared camera every February morning. The blower-door came in at 1.9 ACH50 - tight enough that the HVAC contractor downsized the mini-split by half a ton. Written scope, written price, before-and-after photos. The Haven Standard doesn’t change because it’s new construction.
Insulation Removal & Replacement, Post-Rodent Damage, El Monte Hills
The call came from a homeowner in the El Monte Hills area who’d been hearing scratching for three months and finally saw a roof rat on the fence line. We suited up, removed every contaminated batt, and HEPA-vacuumed the deck. The rodents had nested around three can lights and chewed through a flex duct boot. We don’t just blow new insulation over that. We sanitized, sealed every penetration with fire-rated caulk and metal flashing, replaced the damaged duct boot with hard pipe where we could, then blew GreenFiber cellulose to R-38. The photo record includes shots of the sealed deck before the new insulation went in - the homeowner sees exactly what was under there. Blower-door dropped from 4,100 to 2,400 CFM50. The 365-Day Done Right Promise covers the air sealing and the new insulation. If anything chews through again, we make it right.
Radiant Barrier + Attic Cleaning, Summer Heat Gain, Central El Monte
This 1962 tract home near Valley Boulevard had a dark asphalt shingle roof and no shade from the west. The attic hit 140 degrees by 3 p.m. in August, and the AC ran non-stop until 10 p.m. We cleaned years of dust and debris from the deck, sealed the top plates and wire penetrations, then stapled Owens Corning radiant barrier to the underside of the roof deck. It doesn’t replace insulation - it reduces radiant heat transfer from the roof deck to the attic floor by reflecting it back out. Combined with blowing new fiberglass to R-38 over the sealed floor, the attic temperature dropped to 105 degrees on the same 95-degree day. The homeowner’s SDG&E bill dropped 23% the next August. We have the before-and-after blower-door numbers and the photo record to prove what changed.
Wall Insulation Retrofit, Mid-Century Block Home, Garvey Avenue Corridor
Homes along the Garvey Avenue corridor built in the 1950s and 60s often have stucco over wire lath on block or frame walls with nothing in the cavity. This homeowner’s bedroom wall faced west and radiated heat until midnight. We removed siding courses from the exterior, drilled access holes, and dense-packed GreenFiber cellulose into each 2×4 cavity at 3.5 pounds per cubic foot - dense enough that it won’t settle, loose enough that it fills around wires and blocking. Then we taped the sheathing seams with acrylic flashing tape and replaced the siding. The wall went from R-4 to R-13. On a 102-degree day in September, the interior surface temperature of that west wall was 78 degrees at 6 p.m., down from 94 degrees the year before. Written price before we removed the first siding course. Photo record of every cavity fill. Blower-door improvement of 18% just from sealing the sheathing.
Want Results Like These?
Every job on this page followed the same sequence: written price first, then the work, then the documented photo record and blower-door numbers. If you’re in El Monte and want to see what your attic or crawl space looks like before we change it, call (626) 415-3454. A live person answers, 24/7. We’ll read any competing estimate with you for free, and if we do the work, the 365-Day Done Right Promise applies.
Written by Wes Okafor, Owner at Topside Attic Insulation El Monte, serving El Monte since 2016.