Revamping insulation and hanging drywall mark a major construction milestone.

With rough-ins now complete on this Minneapolis dormer addition, we’re moving forward with insulation and drywall, which together will make the home look and feel livable again. Let’s see what’s new as construction continues to transform this attic into an enviable bedroom suite.

For whatever insulation lacks in glamour, it makes up for in the protection it provides against a Minneapolis winter.

In Minnesota, homes face punishing temperature extremes that can unfavorably affect interior temperatures, especially in attics like this one.  Worse still, older heating and cooling systems often fail to keep up, weren’t installed in the first place, or lack the efficiency needed to keep utility bills reasonable and homeowners comfortable year-round.

Given our homeowner’s experience in the space, where hot summers gave way to cold winters, we knew simply adding more forced-air wouldn’t solve the fundamental problem of an inefficient building envelope. We needed a comprehensive insulation approach that, alongside upgrades to the active systems, would properly condition the entire attic.

Varying insulation types is a strategic move that provides the right coverage, for the right budget, in all the right spots.

The entire insulation process took about 4 days—a relatively quick phase that will pay dividends in comfort for decades to come. Here are some ways we addressed the insulation deficiency in this Minneapolis attic.

To start, insulators spray-foamed the roof deck and ceiling to completely envelope the upper level. This “hot roof” technique creates a thermal barrier at the roofline itself, preventing heat transfer before it reaches the living space below. The spray foam expands to fill cracks and crevices that would be impossible to seal with other materials, creating an airtight, highly efficient barrier. For that reason, we also opted to use spray foam on all exterior walls, which, by code, require a specific R-value, a measure of how well a material resists heat flow.

For select interior walls, like those in the new bedroom and bathroom, our crew used batt insulation—the pink fiberglass material most people recognize. While it also aids with temperature control, another benefit here is sound dampening.

From the roof to the exterior and interior walls, the new insulation is a clear improvement over the newspaper insulation we found during demolition. Furthermore, thanks to the insulation strategies we’ve used, the home’s active heating and cooling systems will not have to work quite as hard to maintain consistent temperatures.

For this project, the crew craned drywall sheets through a window opening. In some instances, when cranes couldn’t access the site due to trees or other obstacles, sheets had to be carried up by hand—a time-consuming, physically demanding process.

The 4×8 sheets selected for this Minneapolis attic remodel offer a little more maneuverability in the tight upper level stairwell, but they come with a trade-off: they require more seams than the larger sheets used in new construction. Each seam means spending more time taping and mudding later, but the compromise was necessary to make the project feasible.

The drywall process marks the moment when a remodel begins to look like a home again, but getting there requires upfront conversations with the homeowner.

Hanging drywall is transformative, as the gypsum sheets cover the formerly exposed framing, insulation, and rough-in work, leaving a smooth wall surface for later paint application. While the visual change is striking, this milestone involves construction realities we prepare our homeowners for, including dust mitigation, disruptive noise, and cleanup procedures. These discussions are especially important for homeowners who live at home during the remodel, work from home, have pets or allergies, or who might otherwise not understand how the process works.

What’s next for this Minneapolis dormer addition?

Completing insulation and drywall marks a shift in the construction process. Ahead lies even more refined work, such as installing flooring, millwork, fixtures, tile, and final finishes—all places where the homeowners’ design choices become visible.