Johns Manville Radiant Barrier Installation Nationwide

Johns Manville Radiant Barrier Installation: The Burbank Owner’s Guide

Most Johns Manville radiant barrier installations in Burbank run between $1,800 and $3,400 for a typical 1,200-2,000 square foot attic, including material, labor, and the air-sealing prep that should happen first. We stock Johns Manville AP Foil-Faced and FSK-25 rolls on our trucks, and we can usually inspect and quote same-day if you call before noon. Homeowners usually figure out something’s wrong when their upstairs bedrooms won’t cool below 78 degrees even after sunset, or when their July electric bill jumps 30% year-over-year despite the thermostat staying put.

Call (213) 816-1699

Which Johns Manville Models This Applies To

Johns Manville makes two radiant barrier product lines you’ll find in Burbank attics: the AP Foil-Faced polyiso board, common in retrofit jobs from 2015-2022, and the FSK-25 (foil-scrim-kraft) facing used over fiberglass batts in new construction and some reroofs. The AP line comes in 4×8 sheets, R-values from R-6 to R-30 depending on thickness, and the foil face must stay exposed to the attic air to reflect radiant heat. If it’s buried under blown-in cellulose, it’s doing nothing. FSK-25 is a facing, not a standalone board; it tears at the staple line or delaminates when attic humidity spikes above 70%, which happens regularly in Burbank’s late-summer monsoon pattern when the Santa Ana winds drop out.

To identify what you have, check the printed edge tape on polyiso boards or the stamped code on FSK facing every 24 inches. If the foil is oxidized to a dull gray or the scrim is visible through cracks, the emissivity has degraded past the 0.05 threshold where it actually blocks heat. We carry virgin Johns Manville material and a mechanically equivalent aftermarket from Reflectix for homeowners who want a faster turnaround on non-warranty work. We are an independent service provider with no affiliation to Johns Manville.

Signs Your Johns Manville Radiant Barrier Installation Is Failing

• Second-floor rooms stay hot past 10 p.m. Radiant barrier works by reflecting solar gain before it radiates into living space. When the foil face oxidizes or gets dusty, emissivity climbs above 0.10 and the attic floor becomes a radiant heater long after the sun’s down. We see this most in Burbank’s hillside homes above Glenoaks Boulevard, where attic ventilation is often retrofit as an afterthought.
• Dust accumulation on the foil face that won’t wipe clean. Fine dust embeds in the factory coating and permanently raises surface emissivity. This is why we air-seal first: a leaky attic pulls conditioned air and filtration dust through every penetration, coating the barrier within three to five years instead of the fifteen-year design life.
• Visible tears or staple pull-through on FSK-25 facing. The scrim reinforcement separates from the foil layer when attic humidity cycles above 60% repeatedly. Burbank’s combination of dry Santa Ana seasons and sudden humidity spikes in August and September accelerates this delamination compared to consistently dry climates.
• Water staining on the kraft paper backing. This means roof leaks or condensation is reaching the barrier, and the facing is now a mold substrate. The barrier must come out before insulation goes back in, or you’re trapping moisture against the drywall.
• Energy bill spike with no thermostat change. A failed radiant barrier doesn’t fail gradually in Burbank’s climate; the performance drop accelerates once emissivity passes 0.08 because the attic temperature swing grows nonlinearly with outdoor heat gain. We’ve measured attic floors at 140°F with degraded barrier versus 110°F with new material on identical 95°F days.

Before

After

Replacement Cost & What’s Included

Here’s how pricing breaks down for a typical Burbank home:

The spread depends on three things: how much degraded material needs removal, whether your attic has active rodent damage requiring cleaning before new material goes in, and how many recessed can lights need sealing boxes installed. Every quote we write in Burbank includes these line items separately so you see where the money goes. Work carries our 365-Day Done Right Promise, and you’ll get a written scope, written warranty, and Documented Photo Record before anyone starts. On jobs where the attic envelope changes, we run a blower-door test before and after so you have the CFM50 number that proves the air sealing worked.

DIY or Call Us?

There’s safe checking, and then there’s work that belongs to someone who’s done it before.

You can safely verify what product you have from the attic hatch with a flashlight and phone camera. Look for the Johns Manville printed edge code, note any visible tears or graying foil, and check your can lights for gaps around the housing. Don’t walk the attic floor unless you can see the joists clearly; many Burbank ranch homes in the Magnolia Park area have 24-inch on-center joists with only 3/8-inch drywall below, and a foot through the ceiling is a common DIY injury.

What goes wrong fast: polyiso board cuts require a straightedge and sharp blade, but more importantly, the air sealing beneath and around it determines whether the R-value on the label becomes performance in your bill. We’ve re-done three Burbank jobs this year where a homeowner laid barrier over unsealed top plates and saw no temperature change. The R-value is what the label says. The performance is what the blower-door test says. We care about the second number. For the actual install, call (213) 816-1699 and we’ll quote it in writing before any work starts.

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