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Serving Petaluma, CA and surrounding areas. (707) 778-6192
If your Petaluma home feels drafty with the heat on, or if wildfire smoke finds its way inside during fire season, hidden gaps are the cause. We find them, seal them, and prove the improvement with a before-and-after test.
Air sealing services in Petaluma CA find and close the gaps, cracks, and hidden openings that let outside air in and conditioned air out - most jobs are completed in a single day and include a blower door test to confirm the improvement.
Insulation slows heat transfer through your walls, ceiling, and floor - but it does not stop air from moving. If your home has gaps around pipes, wires, recessed lights, or where walls meet floors, cold Petaluma air is flowing through those openings constantly, regardless of how much insulation you have. Air sealing closes those pathways. For Petaluma homeowners dealing with marine fog all summer and wildfire smoke in the fall, a tighter envelope is not just a comfort upgrade - it is a health measure.
Air sealing and insulation work best together. Sealing gaps without adding insulation leaves thermal transfer through your surfaces, and insulation without sealing still lets air move freely through hidden openings. We often combine air sealing with basement insulation and attic work in older Petaluma homes to address both problems in the same visit.
If one room is always colder in the morning or warmer in the afternoon than the rest of the house, that is often a sign that outside air is getting in somewhere nearby. This is especially common in older Petaluma homes where the attic floor or crawl space has never been touched since the house was built. Turning up the thermostat does not fix the problem if the real issue is air leaking in.
If you have noticed a smoky smell inside your home during a Sonoma County fire event - even with windows closed - that is a direct sign that outside air is finding its way in through gaps in your building envelope. Smoke particles are tiny, but they follow the same pathways as drafts. If smoke can get in, so can pollen, exhaust fumes, and cold marine air all year long.
If your heating and cooling bills seem high for the size of your home, and you have already confirmed the equipment is working properly, air leakage is one of the most common culprits. Petaluma's cool evenings and marine fog season mean your heating system runs a lot - and if conditioned air is escaping through gaps, you are paying to heat the outdoors.
Hold your hand near an electrical outlet on an exterior wall on a cool day. If you feel a faint stream of cool air, that outlet is connected to a gap in the wall cavity that runs to the outside. The same test works near baseboards and around recessed ceiling lights. These are among the most common and most fixable air leak locations in homes of any age.
We perform comprehensive air sealing throughout Petaluma and surrounding Sonoma County using foam, caulk, and weatherstripping depending on the location and size of each gap. Every job starts with a blower door diagnostic test that depressurizes your home and makes air movement measurable - so we are targeting real leaks, not guessing. Work concentrates in the attic floor, crawl space, and utility penetrations, where most of a home's uncontrolled air movement originates. We seal around pipes, wires, recessed lights, framing gaps, and any other openings we find. For homes where air sealing alone is not enough, we also pair the work with attic air sealing to address the highest-loss area of the home before moving to the crawl space and living areas.
After the work is done, we run a second blower door test and walk you through the before-and-after results in plain terms. That documentation is also what you need to apply for a PG&E rebate or the federal energy efficiency tax credit. According to the Building Performance Institute, contractors who perform pre- and post-testing are following the professional standard for home energy work - not all contractors do this, so it is worth asking before you hire. The U.S. EPA also notes that reducing uncontrolled air infiltration improves indoor air quality - particularly relevant for Petaluma families dealing with pollen and wildfire smoke.
We measure your home's actual air leakage before and after work so you have proof of what was fixed - not just our word for it, suited for homeowners who want verifiable results.
Sealing the attic floor is the highest-impact air sealing location in most homes - we close gaps around pipes, wires, and recessed lights in the attic before any insulation goes on top.
Gaps between your crawl space and living areas are a major pathway for cold marine air and moisture - we seal those transitions as part of a complete air sealing job.
Outlets, baseboards, window and door frames, and plumbing penetrations in finished living spaces are sealed with caulk or foam depending on the gap size and location.
Petaluma sits at the northern end of San Pablo Bay, and marine air pushes inland through the Petaluma Gap regularly - especially in the mornings, evenings, and throughout the summer fog season. That moisture-laden air does not just make your home feel cold. It works its way through gaps and raises indoor humidity levels, which contributes to musty smells and, over time, mold in places you cannot easily see. Air sealing addresses both the comfort problem and the moisture problem at the same time - which is why it tends to deliver more noticeable results in Petaluma than in drier inland cities. Homeowners in Novato and San Rafael face similar marine climate conditions closer to the bay, where marine air infiltration is an even more persistent concern.
Sonoma County's recent wildfire history has added urgency to air sealing for many Petaluma families. The 2017 Tubbs Fire and 2020 Glass Fire made smoke infiltration a real seasonal concern, even for homes well inside the city. A properly sealed home holds out smoke far more effectively than a leaky one. Older Petaluma homes - particularly those in the historic downtown neighborhoods and the west-side bungalow tracts built before 1980 - tend to have the most gaps and therefore the most to gain. These homes were built at a time when nobody was thinking about air tightness, but the gaps are very fixable.
Reach out by phone or through our contact form. We will get back to you within one business day to schedule a home assessment. It helps to describe what you have been noticing - specific drafts, smoky smells during fire season, or rooms that never warm up - so we can come prepared.
We mount a large fan in your doorway and briefly depressurize the house - a process that takes about 30 to 45 minutes and shows exactly how leaky your home is and where the biggest problems are. You receive a written estimate broken down by area of the home, with no obligation.
The crew works methodically through the identified problem areas, typically starting in the attic and moving to the crawl space and living areas. They use foam, caulk, or weatherstripping depending on the gap. Most jobs are completed in a single day and you can stay home throughout.
Once sealing is complete we run a second blower door test and walk you through the before-and-after results. That documentation is what you need for a PG&E rebate or federal tax credit application - we handle the paperwork and walk you through what is required before we leave.
Free estimate and diagnostic test. No obligation - we show you what we find before you decide anything.
(707) 778-6192A contractor who skips the diagnostic test and just starts spraying foam is guessing, not solving. We run a blower door test before the work begins and again when it is done, so you have a documented before-and-after showing exactly what improved. That is the professional standard - and most homeowners are surprised to find that not every contractor does it.
Petaluma's older neighborhoods are where most of our air sealing work happens - Victorian-era houses, Craftsman bungalows, and postwar ranch homes that were built before air tightness was a consideration. We know where gaps accumulate in these structures and what sealing approach works best for each. That local knowledge saves time and produces better results than a generic walk-through.
PG&E offers rebates for qualifying air sealing work, and the federal government currently offers a tax credit of up to 30% of project cost through 2032. We participate in PG&E's program and handle the application paperwork on your behalf. Many Petaluma homeowners find the combined savings bring the net cost of the project well below their initial expectation.
We hold a current California C-2 insulation and acoustical contractor license, verifiable at the California Contractors State License Board. When a Sonoma County building permit is required for your project - which depends on scope - we handle the application so the work is on record and your home's history is protected when you sell.
Petaluma homeowners get the most out of air sealing when the contractor knows the local housing stock, uses diagnostic testing to target the right areas, and handles the rebate paperwork that makes the project financially practical. That is exactly what we bring to every job in this area.
Insulating a basement or unfinished lower level eliminates cold floors and damp air that rises into the living spaces above - a natural companion to whole-home air sealing.
Learn moreTargeted sealing of the attic floor - around pipes, wires, and recessed lights - before insulation is added, capturing the highest-impact air leakage location in the home.
Learn moreSummer fire season arrives quickly in Sonoma County. Schedule your free air sealing assessment now and get your home protected before the smoke arrives.