Medicine Hat has the oldest housing stock of any major Alberta city - about 61% built before 1991 - and nowhere shows a home's age faster than its attic. Decades of settled, thin or gapped insulation over an era of cheap-gas construction means the Hat's attics are among the leakiest in the province, and now that gas isn't cheap, that leak is a real monthly cost.
Why the Gas City's attics are prime targets
Much of the older stock was built when heating was cheap enough that attic air-sealing wasn't a priority. Those attics leak heat through every penetration, and the payback on fixing them is now among the best in Alberta because the old economics are gone.
The approach
- Vented attic: air-seal the ceiling plane with foam, then top with blown-in to R-38 - ideal for the older cores like Crescent Heights and Ross Glen.
- Unvented / newer complex rooflines: closed-cell to the roof deck in areas like Southlands and Saamis Heights.
R-38 is about 6" closed-cell or 11" open-cell. Estimate yours, then get a free Medicine Hat quote. See attic foam province-wide.