Insulation Before & After in Woodland Hills, CA
We can talk about R-value and air sealing until we’re blue in the face, but nothing lands quite like seeing the inside of an attic before and after the work is done. The photos below show real scenarios we walk into across Woodland Hills: patchy fiberglass, rodent-trampled batts, and sweltering second floors. Chase Whitaker has been doing this since 2003, and these are the kinds of transformations that make us stick with it.
Recent Transformations
Attic Insulation Overhaul: From R-11 to R-38 Above the Living Room
Before
AfterThis home near the Woodland Hills Country Club had original fiberglass batts that had settled to about R-11, and the living room ceiling read 12 degrees warmer than the hallway on a July afternoon. We removed the old batts, air-sealed the top plates and can lights, then blew Owens Corning fiberglass to a measured R-38. The second floor now stays within 3 degrees of the rest of the house, and the AC doesn’t run past 8 p.m. anymore.
Spray Foam Insulation in a 1960s South of Ventura Crawlspace Attic
Before
AfterThe homeowner was complaining about a storage attic that smelled like the garage and hit 130 degrees by noon. We used Icynene open-cell spray foam on the underside of the roof deck, converting the space from a vented sweatbox to a semi-conditioned storage area. Before-and-after temperature logging showed a 28-degree drop at the peak of the day, and the musty odor was gone within a week.
Insulation Removal After a Raccoon Squatter in Walnut Acres
Before
AfterA family in Walnut Acres heard scratching for two weeks before we found the entry point at a roofline vent. The mess left behind meant pulling every batt, sanitizing the joists, and starting fresh with Johns Manville fiberglass. The written quote covered removal, cleanup, and new insulation at R-30, and the crew finished in a single day. The homeowner told us the upstairs finally felt like part of the house again.
Blown-In Fiberglass Top-Up Over a Garage Conversion
The previous owner of this home converted the garage without insulating the attic above it, and the new office space would swing from freezing to roasting depending on the hour. We air-sealed the shared wall with the main house, then blew Knauf fiberglass to R-30 across the entire truss line. The office now holds 72 degrees on a 95-degree day, and the homeowner says she no longer schedules calls around the afternoon heat.
Spray Foam Retroflect: Fixing a Botched DIY Foam Job Near Pierce College
A homeowner near Pierce College tried a two-part foam kit from a big box store and ended up with shrunken, cracked foam that had pulled away from the rafters in sheets. We removed the failed material and re-applied Demilec closed-cell foam at a proper 2 inches, which also tightened the eave-to-wall junction he had missed entirely. It was a costly mistake on his end, but he said the difference in how the attic smells and holds temperature made it worth calling us the second time.
Attic Insulation Replacement Under a Flat Roof Off Topanga Canyon
Flat roofs make for tight attics, and this one had maybe 18 inches of clearance at the peak. We pulled the old, mouse-nested batts, vacuumed the deck, and blew GreenFiber cellulose to R-30, which requires less depth than fiberglass for the same rating. The homeowner runs a home daycare and was most concerned about air quality; the sanitizing pass and new cellulose made a noticeable difference in both dust and temperature within the first week.
Want Results Like These?
Every project above started with one phone call and a written price before anything started. We’ll send a background-checked technician to your Woodland Hills home at a live, trackable time, not a four-hour window. Call (559) 295-5362, and we’ll walk your attic together and tell you straight what it needs.
Written by Chase Whitaker, Owner at Laurel Attic Insulation Woodland Hills, serving Woodland Hills since 2003.