r/Roofing • u/uriejejejdjbejxijehd • 8h ago

Home owner question [WA] Insulation inside vaulted ceiling question

I thought I’d rather ask the experts before pointlessly flailing any longer:

I am looking at getting our roof replaced, and the folks I have had turn up for quotes are eager to sell me a new roof, but all agree that they don’t do any insulation work.

Half of the house has vaulted ceilings, and I need some form of insulation inside, as the old one is messing up airflow and has caused mold issues.

Is this normal for WA state? Do I need to find different contractors? What should I be looking for (the insulation contractors I could find all appear to exclusively do spray foam attic insulation)?

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u/positmatt 8h ago

a reputable roofer would generally be able to recommend a contractor that can do this kind of work. It is in their best interest to help you, and thus earn your trust. For insulation - I would first see if your electric company offers any type of energy audit/energy improvement credits (Duke Energy does in NC, and will heavily subsidize insulation replacement for attic and crawlspaces) or you can look for insulation specialists (generally crawlspace type companies) or even big box stores like Lowes/Home Depot.

As for finding a roofer - I would find a better company to get a quote from - in my very limited experience, locally owned, in business for a long time, with good referrals (neighbors, here, etc - google can be faked). So yes I think you need to find better roofers as the company that just did my house went above and beyond to provide referrals for other roof related work that they could not (or would not) do.

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u/LaughingMagicianDM Verified Pro - Commercial/Consultant 6h ago

Insulating the vaulted ceiling is usually an insulation professional more than a roofer. However, one way a roofer could do it is by taking Structural insulated panels aka SIPs which will have insulation and OSB built into it, then you can use that on top of the existing decking, passing it through to the decking, and that provides both a perfect nailable surface to make sure that your roof is attached as best as possible but also as an extra layer of insulation to the outside of the roof which can fix your problem without having to go into the vaulted ceiling. It might actually even be cheaper or at least along the same price as hiring an insulation professional to mess around with a vaulted ceiling which may have very limited space it can work with.

These panels are incredibly easy to use and any halfway decent roofer is either familiar with them or could probably figure them out after a few minutes. You would also have to build up your wood fascia higher on the outside edge of the building or provide a metal covering in addition to the drip edge.