Yukon Insulation, From the Route 66 Core to the West-Side Subdivisions

The Homes and Buildings in Yukon

Around Main Street and the older central blocks, homes date mostly from the earlier and middle decades of the 1900s. They are typically smaller single-story houses, some on crawl spaces, with attics that have been added to piecemeal over the years and rarely sealed. Older windows, open wall cavities and bath fans that end in the attic are common. These houses often benefit most from a methodical approach: test anything suspicious in the attic, seal the ceiling and fan ducts, check the soffits, then top up. Where the house sits over a crawl space, a sound ground cover and sealed ducts below the floor are worth checking too.

The newer stock, put up mostly from the 1990s on, makes up much of Yukon. These are slab homes, often two-story, with brick veneer on the first floor, siding on the gables and second story, and HVAC equipment and ductwork in the attic. Bonus rooms over the garage are common, along with vaulted family rooms and long duct runs to upstairs bedrooms. The attic itself may be reasonably insulated, but the second-floor band joist, the knee walls and the bonus-room floor are where comfort leaks out, and those areas rarely get attention until someone complains about a bedroom.

Because so many west-side Yukon houses keep the air handler and trunk lines up in the attic, owners sometimes ask about spraying open-cell foam against the roofline so the ducts end up inside the cooled space. It can be the right move where ducts are crushed, buried or impossible to reach. Where they can be sealed and wrapped in place, a sealed ceiling with more fill above it is the simpler job, keeps the roof sheathing visible, and avoids a conversation with your roofer and insurer.