Insulation Services Before & After Photos

This homeowner in Granville, MA called us hoping that we would be able to help him with mold in his attic. He wanted his insulation replaced and the mold removed. Since attics are vented, we should think of them thermally as outside in the winter. In summer because of the suns radiant heat, they are much worse than outside, reaching 130˚ on summer days. Clearly, we need to keep an absolute boundary between our living space and the attic so inside air doesn’t move to the attic in the heating season (convection), and heat doesn’t pass up through our ceilings in winter (conduction), and down from our ceilings in the hot summer (conduction, radiation). To reduce overall air leakage, the attic is the first priority because warm air rises to the top of the house and finds any and all holes to leak out into the cold vented attic and is lost. Holes, gaps and joints include between drywall and framing at the top of walls, around pipes, wires, electric boxes, fixtures, duct, penetrations, ceiling grilles and joints in framing. And the only reason cold air leaks in from the outside at the lower levels of the house, is that warm air leaked out of the top and created a suction at the bottom. 

We had the perfect solution for this customer. Adding insulation in an attic without sealing all air leaks first should never be done, because it is just burying air leaks and making them impossible to seal later - and insulation DOES NOT STOP air leaks. That’s why, in this solution, we first carefully air seal the many various points where air from the home leaks up into the attic and is lost. Our premium TruSoft™ cellulose insulation is blown to the optimum R-value (typically R60). TruSoft™ will not burn, get moldy, or attract pests. Blown insulation fills all gaps and odd shaped voids, and by filling over framing members, “thermal bridging” is avoided.

This customer in Cummington, MA reached out to us as the contact person at a children's music camp. He stated that they had recently built new cabins at the camp and needed to insulate them for the comfort of the campers. Our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home and examined the cabins to formulate a plan. 

We first went into the cabins and sealed all of the cracks and places where air would leak in and out. We installed baffles and used Rockwool to block parts of the eaves around the baffles. We then used a large hose to blow cellulose insulation into the attics. This will ensure that the cabins are more temperature-controlled and comfortable for the children attending this camp. The cabins will be enjoyed for years to come! 

This homeowner in Collinsville, CT reached out to us while she was working on doing a bundled loan. She wanted to insulate her home as well as get solar installed. She was looking through the approved contractors for the loan she was getting, and found us on the list. She was looking for mostly attic insulation. When our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home, he found that in addition to the attic insulation, she needed to insulate under her floors. 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. We also added skirting around the perimeter of the insulation so the edge is not visible. Result - Much warmer floors, less drafts and more comfortable rooms, quieter home, lower fuel and electric bills.

This homeowner initially reached out to us saying that he wanted his attic and exterior walls insulated. Many older homes have no insulation in the exterior walls. Most homes without insulation experience cold, drafty rooms, their heating and cooling systems run much more and need more service (causing higher energy bills!), and it's difficult to keep house at a comfortable temperature.

We had the perfect solution for this homeowner. We dense packed the exterior walls using TruSoft™ cellulose insulation. His siding was removed temporarily and 29/16” holes were drilled through the wall sheathing. A fill tube was inserted up (and down) into wall cavities to not only fill, but dense pack the wall cavities. Dense packing is a technique that packs the insulation in very tightly - so tightly that all irregular shaped cavities and crevices in the wall cavities are filled, and air will not penetrate the dense packed cellulose. Dense packed cellulose stops air flow through the wall and insulates. TruSoft™ Cellulose is treated to be highly fire, mold and pest resistant. The holes were plugged and the siding was put back. Result - A less drafty, warmer, quieter, more comfortable house, less dust/pollen, house not so dry in winter, lower fuel/electric bills, heating system runs less - less maintenance.

This room over the garage is being renovated.  The homeowner wanted to be sure his home is properly insulated.  One of the treatments our team did in this room was to insulate the kneewall.  A kneewall is the triangular space under the sloped roof and behind the wall of the room.  We installed our Foamax polyisocyanurate foam board on the exterior walls.  Foamax provides superior insulation and it is flame retardant.  The homeowner can rest assured the knee walls in this room are properly insulated.