A&J Hampton Insulation and Spray FoamA&J Hampton Insulation and Spray Foam

Insulation contractor in Portsmouth, VA - attics and crawl spaces done in the right order

A&J Hampton Insulation and Spray Foam insulates attics, walls and crawl spaces in Portsmouth, VA. We seal the gaps, clear out old or damaged material when it needs to go, and add insulation where your house is losing heat.

Request a quote(757) 367-8752
White vapor barrier covers a crawl space floor and walls beneath wooden joists, with a metal duct overhead.
  • Licensed and fully insured.
  • Free in-person estimates.
  • We respond within 1 business day.

About Portsmouth, VA

Portsmouth sits across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk, and the houses we're called to here run from older homes close to downtown and the water to ranch houses and newer subdivisions farther out. We also get calls from small commercial buildings around the city, and most of them start with a drafty room, cold floors or a power bill that keeps climbing.

A lot of these houses have had work done over the years, an addition here and new wiring there, and each round tends to leave openings the insulation never caught up with. That's why most of our jobs here start with me getting up in the attic or down in the crawl space to see what's really there.

Services in Portsmouth, VA

  • Attic insulation

    Plenty of Portsmouth attics we climb into have only a few inches left, packed down in the middle and nearly bare at the edges over the outside walls. We blow in loose fill evenly out to the eaves and keep the eave vents clear so the attic can still breathe.

  • Attic air sealing

    A drafty or hot upstairs usually traces back to gaps around pipes, wires, light fixtures and the attic hatch that let house air leak up into the attic. We seal those first, because insulation laid over an open gap is fighting a draft the whole time.

  • Insulation removal

    When the old insulation in an older attic is too far gone to keep, we vacuum it out through a hose straight to the truck. That way it isn't carried down your stairs and through your living room in bags.

  • Crawl space insulation

    Our crawl space insulation work replaces the fallen or missing insulation under your floor and fastens it to the framing so it stays up. It's the fix for the cold floors we hear about in so many houses here that sit on a crawl space.

  • Wall insulation

    Some older houses here still have hollow or half-filled outside walls, which you feel as a drafty room even with the windows shut. We can usually fill them through small holes that get plugged and patched, so the walls don't have to come open.

  • Spray foam insulation

    The room over the garage is often the one nobody wants to sit in, because it has open air under its floor and outside walls on most sides. Where loose fill can't reach or the ductwork runs through that space, we use closed-cell foam, a dense foam that also blocks moisture, to seal and insulate in one pass.

Working in Portsmouth: permits, licenses and what sets your price

Whether your insulation job needs a permit is the city's call, and the Portsmouth Department of Permits and Inspections is the office to ask. When the city requires one, we apply for it as the contractor and set up the inspections, and the work waits until it's issued, so I check with the city for your address before anything goes on the calendar. If you'd like to ask yourself, City Hall's number is 757-393-8000, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Before you hire anyone here, ask to see two things, their Virginia contractor license and their Portsmouth business license. We're licensed and fully insured, and I'm happy to go over that at the estimate.

Your price mostly turns on what's already up there, meaning how many inches you have, whether old material is wet or dirty and has to come out first, how many gaps need sealing, how easy the attic or crawl space is to get into, and whether foam or loose fill makes sense. The schedule turns on the same things plus a permit if the city asks for one, and your estimate is where you get your own figure for both. We come over from Hampton for these jobs, so I plan visits and crew days around the tunnel traffic, the same way I do for jobs in Gloucester Point and Smithfield.

Portsmouth, VA properties and local conditions

A lot of Portsmouth houses have been around long enough that the attic has seen a roof leak or a family of squirrels at some point, and the insulation from back then is often still up there, stained or full of droppings. New insulation laid on top keeps that smell and dampness right where it is, so we take out what's ruined, make sure the leak is fixed and start clean. I'd rather tell you a section needs to come out than sell you a layer that hides the problem.

Houses on a crawl space are common here, and the insulation under the floor is often sagging, fallen in pieces or was never put in at all. A damp crawl space with loose ducts makes it worse, so we look over the whole space and tell you what needs fixing before we put anything back up.

Get a free on-site insulation estimate for your Portsmouth home

We reply to every call and request within one business day. I come out to your house in Portsmouth, look over the attic, walls or crawl space with you, and then write up a free estimate you can read at your own pace. There's no obligation to hire us.

What happens after you call us about your Portsmouth house

  1. Call or send a request

    Call (757) 367-8752 or use the form, and we'll set a time for me to come out. Pick a time you can be home, because I'd like you to see what I see.

  2. Look it over together

    I go into the attic, walls or crawl space and show you what's there, from the inches already up there to wet spots and open gaps. Then I write it up so you know what each part of the job costs before you decide anything.

  3. Fix first, then insulate

    We take care of anything that has to be fixed first and handle the permit if the city calls for one. Then our lead installer runs the crew on the work, and I check in while the job is going on.

  4. Walk through the finished job

    When the crew's done, we walk you through what went in and where, so you can see it for yourself before we leave. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check an insulation contractor's license in Virginia?

Ask for their Virginia contractor license, which comes from the Board for Contractors, the state board that licenses businesses that build, remove, repair or improve things on property owned by someone else. Each license pairs a class, A, B or C, that sets how large a project the contractor can take on, with a specialty that sets the type of work. You can read the board's rules on its page before you sign with anyone.

What does a Class C contractor license cover in Virginia?

A Class C license covers a single contract or project worth more than $1,000 but less than $30,000. The state's booklet also says it fits a contractor whose total work in any twelve-month period is no more than $250,000. So the class on a contractor's license tells you how big a job they're allowed to take.

Does an insulation contractor need a Portsmouth business license?

They should have one, because the state says a licensed contractor still has to meet the local licensing rules of each city where it works. In Portsmouth, applicants apply in person and the city asks them to allow at least an hour, and a new business needs a zoning permit from the city's permits office before it gets to the licensing office.

What should a door-to-door insulation contractor give me in Virginia?

They have to give you a Statement of Consumer Protections, which the state board requires in residential door-to-door sales. If someone knocks offering a deal on your attic, ask for it, and don't let anyone rush you into signing on the porch.

How much does it cost to insulate an attic in Portsmouth, VA?

Your price comes from what I find in your attic, and you get it in writing after we've looked at it together. For most attics, sealing the gaps and topping up with loose fill costs less than foam and does the job well. Foam costs more because it seals air while it insulates, and it usually earns that extra cost when your ductwork runs through the attic.

How long do we have to stay out of the house after spray foam insulation?

You stay out until the foam's re-entry time, the point when you can come back in, has passed, and I'll give you that time for the product we're using before the day comes. With blown-in insulation, most families stay home while the crew works, though I'd keep kids and pets away from the attic hatch and the hose.

Service areas

Explore the services

Hampton, VA

Call about your Portsmouth attic tonight

Our phones are open until 10 PM seven days a week, so you can call (757) 367-8752 after work or send the form whenever it suits you.

Request a quote(757) 367-8752
(757) 367-8752Request a quote