Basement insulation
Pair whole-home air sealing with basement wall and rim joist insulation to complete the lower-level envelope - the part of your home most exposed to Missoula's cold ground.
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Hidden gaps in your attic, crawl space, and walls let cold air in and heat out all winter. Air sealing closes them for good - measurably, with before-and-after testing you can see.
Air sealing services in Missoula find and close the hidden gaps and cracks where outside air enters your home and your heated air escapes - most jobs are completed in one to two days with no major disruption to your living space. Unlike insulation, which slows heat transfer through your walls, air sealing physically stops air from moving through openings around pipes, wiring, framing, and other penetrations. The two work together, and doing both in the same visit gives you the full benefit of a tight, efficient home.
In Missoula, air sealing matters for two reasons most homeowners in other cities do not face at the same level. The first is a heating season that runs from October through April, with temperatures that regularly drop below zero. Every gap in your home's envelope is a direct path for that cold to enter and for the heat you are paying for to escape. The second is Missoula's winter air quality - temperature inversions trap smoke and exhaust in the valley, and a leaky home lets that outdoor air in through the same gaps that drive up your heating bill. Air sealing addresses both problems at once.
Many homeowners benefit most from combining air sealing with attic air sealing, which targets the attic floor - one of the largest sources of heat loss in older Missoula homes.
If your gas or electric bill spikes from October through February and seems higher than what neighbors describe for similar-sized homes, air leaks are one of the most common reasons. Missoula's cold valley winters mean even a moderately leaky home can cost hundreds of extra dollars per heating season. If you have never had air sealing done and your home is more than 20 years old, this signal is worth investigating.
Pay attention to rooms that never warm up, or spots near the floor, baseboards, or outlets on exterior walls where you feel a chill. That cold air is coming from somewhere - usually gaps in the attic floor above, the basement below, or around penetrations in the walls. This is one of the clearest signs that air sealing would make a noticeable difference in your daily comfort.
Missoula's winter air quality is genuinely poor on many days due to the valley's geography trapping smoke at ground level. If you can smell wood smoke inside when you have not lit your own fireplace, or if the air feels irritating during inversion events, outside air is finding its way in through gaps in your home's envelope. Air sealing is one of the most effective ways to reduce how much of that outdoor pollution enters your living space.
Thick ridges of ice along the edge of your roof after snowfall mean warm air is escaping through the attic and melting snow unevenly. That warm air is getting into the attic through gaps in the attic floor - exactly what air sealing addresses. Ice dams can cause serious water damage to your roof and ceilings, so this signal is worth acting on quickly rather than waiting for another season.
Every air sealing project starts with a blower door test - a calibrated fan mounted temporarily in a doorway that depressurizes your home and measures exactly how leaky it is. This tells us where the biggest problems are before we apply a single tube of foam. From there, we work systematically through the areas where leaks consistently hide: the attic floor around wiring, pipes, and framing; the basement rim joists where your floor framing meets the foundation; and the crawl space, which is often the single largest source of cold air infiltration in Missoula homes built on those foundations. We also include attic air sealing as part of comprehensive whole-home projects - the attic floor is where the most dramatic improvements typically come from in older Missoula homes.
Once the sealing work is complete, we run the blower door test again so you have a real before-and-after measurement. We also assess your home's ventilation to make sure the tighter envelope does not create moisture or air quality problems. Pairing air sealing with basement insulation in the same visit is common - it covers the full lower-level envelope without scheduling two separate jobs.
Best for older Missoula homes that have never been air sealed. Covers attic, crawl space, and basement rim joists in a single project with before-and-after blower door testing.
Best for homes with high heating bills or ice dam problems. Targets the attic floor where wiring, pipes, and framing create the largest air pathways into the living space.
Best for homes with cold floors or recurring frozen pipe issues. Closes the gaps where cold air enters from below and pairs with insulation for maximum effect.
Best for homeowners who want the full benefit of a tight, efficient home. Combining both scopes in one visit saves labor cost and gives you compound results.
A large share of Missoula's housing stock was built in the 1940s through the 1970s - eras before energy efficiency was a priority and before modern air sealing techniques existed. Homes from that era were never designed to be tight, and the gaps around pipes, wiring, and framing have had decades to widen. Many of these homes in the University District, the South Hills, and older neighborhoods near downtown have never had any professional air sealing done at all. The U.S. Department of Energy notes that the average home loses a significant portion of its heating and cooling energy through air leaks - not through the walls themselves, but through gaps most homeowners would never notice. In a valley climate where you heat your home hard for five or six months a year, that translates into real money on every utility bill.
The second reason Missoula homeowners benefit more from air sealing than those in many other cities is the valley's winter air quality. When temperature inversions trap smoke at ground level, a leaky home pulls that outdoor air in through the same gaps that drive up your heating bill. The Missoula City-County Health Department actively tracks inversion events and air quality, and homeowners in Missoula proper and nearby communities like Hamilton who deal with valley smoke can meaningfully improve indoor air quality by tightening their home's envelope.
We ask about your home's age, any comfort problems you have noticed, and whether you have had any energy work done before. You will hear back within 1 business day to schedule your assessment. There is no charge for the visit or the estimate.
A technician walks through your home and runs a blower door test to measure how leaky your home is overall. They inspect your attic, basement, and crawl space and identify where the biggest leaks are. You leave with a clear explanation of what they found and a written estimate.
Before the crew arrives, make sure the attic hatch, basement, and crawl space are accessible and clear of stored items blocking the way. You do not need to move furniture or leave your home. The crew works primarily in areas you do not use day-to-day.
The crew applies foam and caulk systematically to seal gaps around pipes, wiring, and framing. Once complete, they run the blower door test again and show you the before-and-after numbers. Most jobs take one to two days - materials are odorless once cured.
No pressure, no obligation. We run a real test, show you the numbers, and give you a written estimate. You decide what to do from there.
(406) 550-8187Every air sealing project we complete in Missoula is done under a valid Montana state contractor registration. You have clear legal recourse if anything goes wrong, and we pull permits with the City of Missoula whenever the scope of work requires it.
We test your home before work begins and again when we finish. You get a real measurement - in numbers, not just our word - showing how much tighter your home is when we leave than when we arrived. That before-and-after data is yours to keep.
A large share of Missoula's housing stock dates from the 1940s through the 1970s - eras when homes were built with gaps that have had decades to widen. We have worked in these homes throughout the University District, South Hills, and downtown neighborhoods and know where the leaks hide.
A home sealed without addressing ventilation can develop air quality and moisture problems. We assess your current ventilation as part of every job and flag it if your home needs an upgrade - so you do not trade one problem for another.
Air sealing is work that happens in the parts of your home you rarely see - which makes the before-and-after blower door test the most important thing we do. It is objective proof that the job worked, not a contractor's promise that it did. The Building Performance Institute sets the certification and testing standards our technicians follow - ask any contractor you consider whether they test before and after every job.
Pair whole-home air sealing with basement wall and rim joist insulation to complete the lower-level envelope - the part of your home most exposed to Missoula's cold ground.
Learn moreFocus specifically on the attic floor where wiring and framing create the largest air pathways - often the single highest-impact improvement in older Missoula homes.
Learn moreLock in your air sealing appointment before the cold season fills our calendar. Call now or send a message - you will hear back within 1 business day and can have your assessment scheduled within the week.