Insulation Removal Cost Calculator

No, if it's dry, clean and rodent-free — just add unfaced material on top. Remove it when it's wet, mouldy, contaminated with droppings, or you need access for air sealing.

Most jobs land between $1 and $2.25 per square foot, so a 1,200 sq ft attic is roughly $1,200 to $2,700. Rodent contamination and deep fill push it higher.

When it is wet, mould-affected, rodent-contaminated or fire-damaged, and when there is a reason to see the ceiling plane underneath — knob-and-tube wiring being the classic case. Dry, clean, settled insulation is almost always cheaper to top up than to remove and replace.

Treat it as a hazardous job. Old attic insulation holds decades of dust, rodent droppings and possibly vermiculite, which may contain asbestos and must not be disturbed by anyone not qualified to handle it. Respiratory protection is the minimum for ordinary material, and suspected vermiculite is a stop-work-and-test situation.

It scales with area, depth and how bad the access is, and contamination pushes it up sharply because the disposal route changes. Get quotes on your measured attic area and stated depth rather than the house's floor area, and ask specifically what disposal is included — that is where removal quotes most often differ from each other.