Estero has grown fast. A lot of what went up during the boom years was insulated to code minimum and nothing past it, and the older neighborhoods along the river are still running the blown-in that went in when the house was built. Both are fixable, and neither one requires you to be home for a quote.
We're Ideal Insulation, based in Naples and working Lee and Collier County every day since 2012. Nine trucks, more than 20 certified installers, all on our own payroll. We don't subcontract Estero work to anybody. Estero sits between our Naples shop and our Fort Myers jobs, so our trucks are through there constantly.
Open cell and closed cell, for attics, walls and crawl spaces. The common Estero job is open cell sprayed on the underside of the roof deck — 5 inches minimum by code, which gets you R-30 and an unvented attic.
SW Florida attics run 130-140°F in summer. Once the deck is sealed, that attic is inside the building envelope instead of outside it, and it sits much closer to the temperature of the house below. What you notice first is the AC cycling off in the afternoon instead of running until sundown.
Closed cell is what we use where we need a vapor barrier and added structural strength — crawl spaces, moisture-prone areas, metal buildings.
The straightforward R-value fix for a vented attic. We blow to R-38, which is the target down here. Good option when the existing insulation is thin but the attic itself is sound. Most installs go in the same week you approve the price, often within 48 hours.
Old, settled, wet or storm-damaged insulation comes out before anything new goes in. Covering bad insulation with good insulation does not work — the old material keeps holding the moisture. We pull it, clean the deck, and reinstall.
Not every Estero home has one, but the ones that do sit on ground that stays damp most of the year. Fiberglass batts stapled up between the floor joists fail in that environment: they hold water and eventually fall down. Closed cell spray foam seals the space and acts as its own vapor barrier. We wrote up what works and what fails under a Florida floor in more detail.
Estero is still building, and we do a lot of it. For a new house in Climate Zone 1 we typically run R-30 open-cell at the roof deck, R-4.1 board on the block walls, R-13 batts in frame walls and floors, and mineral wool at garage framing and wet walls. We work off your Florida Form R405 energy calc so what we install matches what got permitted.
Metal buildings: open cell at 4 inches on the roof and 3.5 inches on the walls, or 2 inches of closed cell all around.
Estero's growth means a lot of homes went up quickly. Builders met code — but code is the minimum, not the optimum. Here's what turns up most often:
Spray foam handles all four in one installation: insulation, air seal and moisture control together.
We size the quote from Lee County property-appraiser records. You get a written price without anybody coming to the house. If the number works for you, we do a free pre-visit before the install to confirm access and staging — that visit costs nothing and there's no obligation attached to it.
Most installs go in the same week, often within 48 hours. Pay online or by ACH, no surcharge. Se habla español.
"Showed up on time, crew was very efficient and helpful... cleaned up afterward"
— Doug S.
Call (239) 455-2002, email estimates@idealinsulationinc.com, or send us the address here.
Estero is in our regular service area. We're based in Naples and cover all of Lee and Collier County plus Charlotte County. Estero sits between our Naples shop and our Fort Myers work, so we're through there constantly. We've been doing this since 2012 with nine trucks and more than 20 certified installers on payroll.
Yes. We size the quote from Lee County property-appraiser records and send you a written price with no site visit. If you approve it, we do a free pre-visit before the install to check access and staging.
Five inches of open-cell spray foam at the roof deck is the code minimum, and that gets you R-30. For a vented attic we blow to R-38 instead.
Most installs happen the same week the price is approved, often within 48 hours. Call (239) 455-2002 to check the current schedule.
A thermal camera scan shows you where the house is actually leaking. It's a $199 value and it's free for Estero homeowners.
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