Wall Insulation for Older Homes in Detroit, MI

Wall insulation for older homes is a different job from insulating new framing. Many houses in Detroit and its inner suburbs were built before wall insulation was standard. Their stud bays are empty, or hold a thin layer of old material that has slumped to the bottom. You can feel it in winter: cold outside walls, rooms that never warm up, and drafts at outlets and baseboards.

How we fill closed walls

We do not tear off plaster or siding to insulate. For most wood-frame walls we drill small holes, either from the outside after lifting a course of siding or from the inside through plaster, and blow dense-pack cellulose into each bay until it is full and firm. Dense packing at high density resists settling and slows air movement through the wall. Then we plug and patch the holes. For some walls, an injection foam made for closed cavities is a better fit.

Balloon framing

Many older Detroit homes are balloon framed, with studs that run from the foundation sill to the roof without a break at each floor. That means a stud bay can be an open chimney from the basement to the attic. Before or while we fill walls, we block those bays at the top and bottom so the house stops drafting through its walls.

Brick homes

Solid masonry and brick veneer walls need more care. A brick veneer house usually has a wood-framed wall behind the brick with an air gap, and the frame wall can often be filled from inside. Solid masonry walls, which have no stud cavity, are a different case: adding insulation on the inside changes how the brick dries, and in a freeze-thaw climate like Detroit's that matters. We look at what your walls actually are before recommending anything.

What the code says for walls

The Michigan residential energy code in force lists R-20, or R-13 plus R-5 continuous, for new wood-frame walls in Climate Zone 5A. A 2x4 wall cannot reach that with cavity fill alone, but filling empty bays still makes a large difference in comfort and drafts. DTE's 2026 rebate page lists $125 for above-grade walls of at least 250 square feet when it supplies your heat.

Wiring and old materials

Knob-and-tube wiring is still found in some older Detroit-area homes. Insulation should not be packed around live knob-and-tube without an electrician's evaluation. We look for it before we quote, and tell you if it is there.

If your plaster or siding is coming off anyway, open-cavity spray foam may make more sense; we price both. Get a free estimate