Resources & Guides

Insulation & Plastering Blog

Expert guides from Greater Boston's trusted insulation and plastering contractor. energy efficiency tips, spray foam comparisons, historic plaster advice, and more.

Before Anyone Sprays Foam in Your House: The 9-Question Interview

Worried about spray foam odor, bad mixes or re-entry safety? Read these 9 questions to any spray foam contractor, with what a good answer and a red flag sound like.

Follow the Heat: How Your Living Room Builds an Ice Dam

Ice dams start inside your house, not on the roof. Follow warm air from your living room to the icicles, stop by stop, and learn why air sealing comes before more insulation.

Your Plaster Walls Aren't the Problem: Insulating a Pre-1940 House Without Erasing It

Can you insulate an old house with plaster walls without tearing them out? What's inside the wall, the three hidden blockers to check first, and how dense-pack cellulose is done carefully.

Camp to Year-Round: The Winter-Proof Order of Operations for NH & Maine Seasonal Homes

Turning a lake camp or coastal cottage into a year-round home in New Hampshire or Maine? Pick your foundation type and follow the order that keeps pipes, floors and walls warm.

Insulate First, Plaster Second: The Renovation Timeline Nobody Shows You

The order of trades decides how your walls perform and look. A visual timeline from open framing to finished plaster, where projects lose time, and when veneer plaster beats drywall.

What Your Icicles Are Telling You: A Field Guide to Reading Your Roof

Not all icicles mean trouble. Use this field guide to read where icicles form on your house, what each pattern points to, and which ones mean heat is escaping into your attic.

Emergency Guide

Water Coming Through the Ceiling From an Ice Dam? Your First 24 Hours

An ice dam is leaking water inside. A calm, hour-by-hour plan: stay safe, limit damage, document for insurance, and what never to do. Then the fix that stops it next winter.

Why Your Cape Gets Ice Dams and Your Neighbor's Colonial Doesn't

Ice dams follow the shape of your house. See where Capes, Colonials, split-levels, cathedral ceilings, additions and lake camps typically leak heat, and what the fix looks like for each.

Guide · April 2026

Open Cell vs Closed Cell Spray Foam

Choosing between open cell and closed cell spray foam? This complete guide from a Boston-area insulation contractor expl...

Guide · April 2026

energy-efficiency improvements 2026: Complete Guide

Everything Massachusetts homeowners need to know about energy-efficiency improvements in 2026 — how to qualify, what's covered, how m...

Guide · April 2026

Plaster vs Drywall: A Boston Contractor's Honest Comparison

Plaster or drywall for your Boston-area home? A veteran plastering contractor explains the real differences in durabilit...

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