Fogarty's Home Services Before & After Photos

This homeowner in Longmeadow, MA called us saying that her basement had water in it, as well as mold and musty odors. She had a sump pump, but it was not working effectively.

In order to help this customer, we first had to remove the ineffective sump pump and the pipes that were attached to it. We then set to work replacing it. We replaced it with our TripleSafe™ sump pump. This sump pump features three pumps! The first pump is a 1/3 hp, cast iron Zoeller pump that can pump up to 2200 gallons per hour, 8 feet high. Should the first pump fail or not be able to keep up with the temporary heavy flow of water, a 1/2 hp AC back-up pump on a separate discharge line can pump 3900 gallons of water per hour. If the power fails, then a third, battery operated "UltraSump" pump automatically pumps up to 12,000 gallons of water out of the basement.

Now, this homeowner will have peace of mind that she has three pumps keeping her basement dry! 

This homeowner in Montague, MA called us about her "exterior overhang", which had insulation falling out of it. When our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home, he found that the homeowner had the underside of her bedroom floors exposed, and the insulation was no longer doing its job. Some homes or additions are designed with floors that have the outside air under them. Other times a home or addition was originally used as a summer home or “three season room”, and was converted to all season heated space later. When the outside air flows under a floor it feels very cold and uncomfortable in the winter - especially with ceramic tile, linoleum or laminate floors. Since the floor is the surface of the room we are in contact with most, it’s very important to fix, in order to be comfortable. There are two issues - air leakage through the floor, and conductive heat loss through the floor, because heat moves from more to less through solid materials. Even if there is fiberglass batt insulation in the floor, because it sags down away from the sub floor, the same outside air gets over it (“thermal bypass”) rendering it useless. Mold on the floor joists and sub floor is also a concern. Results - cold floors, drafts, uncomfortable rooms, greater overall home air leakage rate, higher fuel and electric bills.

We had the perfect solution for this customer. In this solution, SilverGlo™ foam insulation board is installed across the bottom of the floor joists with special long screws and 3” washers, SilverGlo™ is expanded polystyrene foam with graphite infused into the foam, which bumps up the insulation (“R”) value by 24% over standard EPS foam. Further, SilverGlo™ has a radiant barrier to reflect heat, so the insulation isn’t doing all the work by itself. All seams are sealed. If necessary a skirt board can be installed around the perimeter of the insulation so the edge is not visible. The skirt board may require painting after we are complete. Result - Much warmer floors, less drafts and more comfortable rooms, quieter home, lower fuel and electric bills.

This homeowner in Glastonbury, CT called us hoping that we would be able to help him with his home. He wanted to insulate his basement walls, as well as his attic. When our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home, he asked the homeowners what else they were having problems with in her home. One of the items mentioned by the family was that they had wooden support pillars in the basement that needed to be replaced. 

We were able to help this customer! We utilized our SmartJack™ floor supports. SmartJack™ systems are able to level and stabilize existing beams and floor joists. We removed some of the wooden pillars and added our SmartJack™ supports. Now, the homeowner is very happy!

This homeowner in Granby, CT had called us out to his home because he wanted to stop dealing with his cold floors in the winter. To understand why this is happening we have to know that houses like many things are affected by pressure. In the attic there is a positive pressure and in the basement there is a negative pressure. When air comes into our home it comes in from a negative pressure zone. One of the main entry points is the rim joist. In the winter cold air rushes in through this zone and makes the floors above very cold.  To fix this, we have to insulate the rim joist. To do this we use a 2-part expanding spray foam. This allows us to get every inch of this space and air seal it properly. Once this is done the cold air cannot get into the basement to make the floors cold!

This homeowner in Millers Falls, MA called us with issues with her attic insulation. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived in the home, he noticed that the area around the chimney was not insulated. This is a fairly common occurrence, as normally, you are not able to put anything within 2" of the chimney that could be combustible. However, this leaves a large gap that is uninsulated -- causing your energy bills to rise and the air you pay to condition to escape to the attic. 

Fogarty's Home Services has a fairly simple solution to this problem. This customer's recommended solution was a "chimney wrap". We first had to put metal flashing between the wood framing and the chimney. This was sealed with "fire caulk", a high temperature caulk. We then used fireproof "Rock Wool" insulation panels around the chimney. This made it possible for us to use our blown-in TruSoft™ cellulose insulation in the rest of the attic. These solutions lowered our customer's energy bills and made her home more comfortable year round!