Insulation Worker (Floor, Ceiling, and Wall) Career
As an insulation worker, your career revolves around installing, repairing and replacing the various materials used to help maintain and regulate building temperatures. As virtually every residential, commercial and industrial building is insulated, this career could see you continually getting to work on a range of exciting new construction projects, renovations and repairs.
Floor, ceiling and wall insulators generally spend almost all of their time working indoors in a wide range of different environments. The working conditions are often dusty and workers are often required to wear facemasks, respirators and full body suits to prevent the insulating materials from coming into contact with their eyes, mouth and skin. Insulation workers generally spend most of the day on their feet or bending and kneeling in attics, crawlspaces and other confined spaces.
Insulation Worker (Floor, Ceiling, and Wall) Career Snapshot
Further details on a career as an insulation worker are listed below (statistics from the May 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics and Onet Online):
is the average yearly salary for insulation workers.
increase in employment between 2014 and 2024.
have a High school diploma or equivalent while 29% have less than a High school diploma.
Insulation Worker Education
There is no formal educational requirement for becoming an insulation worker, although most workers do have at least a high-school education. Most employers also don’t require any type of formal training, as the majority of workers undergo on-the-job training or potentially even an apprenticeship.
Insulation Worker Job Duties
The duties of an insulation worker are simple; installing, applying and replacing insulation materials. However, this can involve a number of different techniques depending on the type of insulation being used. Depending on the type of insulation, it could be put in place by hand, blown in to fill crawlspaces or attics or sprayed on using a foam insulation sprayer.
Insulation Worker Salaries
The fact that insulation workers require no special training, education or certification means that they can’t expect quite as high of a salary as for other, more skilled construction workers. As of May 2016, the average median yearly salary for floor, ceiling and wall insulation workers was approximately $35,000 and those in the lowest 10 percent only made around $23,000 a year as reported by the BLS.gov. However, there are those insulation workers that make over $60,000 a year, but these either tend to be those who own their own company or work in a more hazardous field.
Insulation Worker Job Outlook
Many are predicting that the U.S. construction business will boom over the next decade, which is why the total number of insulation worker jobs is expected to increase by approximately 13 percent by 2024. This is a much faster rate of growth than for the average job. However, much of this growth is driven by the fairly high turnover rate for insulation workers, which is also much higher than for the average career.
Insulation Worker Skills & Traits
| Insulation Worker Skill Set: | Required Abilities: | Tools Used by Insulation Workers: | Typical Work Activities: |
|---|---|---|---|
| • Active Listening • Critical Thinking • Operation and Control • Speaking | • Extent Flexibility • Manual Dexterity • Multilimb Coordination • Gross Body Equilibrium | • Air filtering devices • Hazardous material protective apparel • Asbestos cutters • Hammer staplers | • Handling and Moving Objects • Performing General Physical Activities • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events |
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