Insulation Before & After in Burbank, CA
Photos don’t lie. A blower-door number doesn’t either. Below are real jobs we’ve completed across Burbank, from the hillside homes near Verdugo Mountains to the postwar tract houses in the Magnolia Park area. Each entry shows what we found, what we did, and what changed.
Recent Transformations
Attic Air Sealing + Blown-In Fiberglass, Burbank Hills
The homeowner on Belhaven Drive called because their upstairs bedrooms hit 88 degrees by 4 p.m. even with the AC running flat out. We found a classic Burbank Hills problem: the original 1962 attic had never been air-sealed, so conditioned air was escaping through top-plate gaps, recessed can lights, and a chase around the old masonry chimney. The existing insulation was compressed to about four inches of dirty fiberglass. We sealed every penetration with fire-rated caulk and foam, then blew in GreenFiber cellulose to R-49. The blower-door test read 3,800 CFM50 before sealing and 1,900 after. The homeowner’s next summer electric bill dropped $147.
Crawl Space Encapsulation & Vapor Barrier, Magnolia Park
This 1948 slab-on-grade with a partial crawl space in Magnolia Park smelled musty every time Santa Ana winds pushed warm air through the foundation vents. The dirt floor was bare, the fiberglass batts were hanging in black strands from the joists, and a corner showed efflorescence on the block wall. We removed the degraded insulation, graded the soil, installed a 20-mil reinforced vapor barrier sealed to the walls with butyl tape, and closed the vents with rigid foam plugs. Relative humidity in the crawl space dropped from 78% to 41% within 48 hours. The homeowner stopped getting allergy symptoms in their own living room.
Spray Foam Insulation, Wall Retrofit, Rancho Adjacent
A couple near the Rancho area bought a 1974 townhouse with uninsulated 2×4 exterior walls. The west-facing unit baked in afternoon sun; you could feel heat radiating from the drywall. We drilled 5/8-inch holes at stud-bay intervals, injected Icynene open-cell spray foam to fill the cavities, and patched with matching texture. The thermal bypass - exterior air moving through the wall cavity unchecked - was eliminated. Surface temperature on that west wall dropped 14 degrees on a 102-degree Burbank afternoon. They run their mini-split two fewer hours per day now.
Insulation Removal & Replacement, Attic Rodent Damage, Media District
The property manager for a fourplex near the Media District found droppings in the attic during a routine HVAC inspection. The existing insulation was a mix of original 1970s fiberglass and a 2005 blown-in top-up, both compromised by rodent trails and urine saturation. We vacuum-extracted all material, HEPA-filtered the attic deck, applied an enzyme sanitizer, sealed entry points with 1/4-inch hardware cloth and foam, then installed new Owens Corning blown-in fiberglass to R-38. The Documented Photo Record showed 340 photos from start to finish. No callback in 18 months.
Radiant Barrier + Attic Cleaning, Glenoaks Canyon
A Glenoaks Canyon homeowner had an attic that functioned as a solar oven: unshaded roof, dark composite shingles, zero ventilation improvement since 1985, and insulation matted with decades of dust and old rat nests. We cleaned the deck, sealed air leaks at the top plates and wire penetrations, then installed a perforated radiant barrier across the rafter bays to reflect infrared heat before it reached the insulation layer. Attic temperature on a July afternoon dropped from 154 degrees to 120 degrees. The blown-in fiberglass we added afterward actually works now because it’s not cooking from above.
Home Energy Audit to Full Envelope Upgrade, Burbank Rancho
This job started with a Home Energy Audit we performed in Burbank Rancho. The homeowner knew their 1956 house was inefficient but couldn’t prioritize where to spend. Our blower-door test read 4,200 CFM50, thermography showed missing insulation above the master bedroom soffit, and the duct blaster revealed 22% leakage in the flex runs through the hot attic. We wrote a scoped proposal with line-item pricing: seal the envelope, replace the degraded attic insulation with Knauf EcoFill, wrap the ducts with insulation and mastic-seal the joints, and add a radiant barrier at the roofline. Post-work blower-door: 2,450 CFM50. Their HVAC contractor downsized the replacement system by half a ton because the load calculation came back 42% lower.
Want Results Like These?
Every job above started the same way: a phone call to (213) 816-1699, answered by a live person. We schedule an inspection, deliver a written price with flat scope and warranty before any work starts, and close with a Documented Photo Record and blower-door numbers you can verify yourself. Under Haven Standard Clause 1, the price you approve is the price you pay. Call (213) 816-1699 or bring us any competing written estimate for a Free Second Opinion.
Written by Wes Okafor, Owner at Topside Attic Insulation Burbank, serving Burbank since 2016.