Trusted Radon Testing & Mitigation Company in Avon, CT

This homeowner in Avon, CT reached out to us looking to reduce drafts in their home. They initially thought it was their attic insulation, however, an evaluation showed a lack of basement insulation as well. In a basement, the “rim joist” is the perimeter of the floor framing system along the exterior of the house. The joints and gaps between all the framing members allow for a lot of air leakage into the house. The rim joist is seldom insulated and never air sealed. Basement ceiling insulation, especially fiberglass batts, doesn’t stop the flow of cold air into the home. Results - cold floors, drafty, uncomfortable rooms, cold basement/lower level, higher heating and cooling bills and more condensation in the basement or crawl space in the summer.

We had the perfect solution for this homeowner. In this solution, we spray foam the rim joist in the basement in order to seal and insulate it. Two part expanding spray foam is installed on the rim joist and over the sill plate to seal all air leaks from the outside and insulate this important area of the home. Our spray foam has a high insulation value per inch of R7, and because it expands, it seals all cracks and gaps and joints where air from the outside enters the home. Results - warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, the house is easier to heat and costs less to heat, less summertime condensation on cold basement surfaces.

This homeowner in Avon, CT came to see us at a home show. He wanted to talk to us about attic insulation and air sealing. They were having drafts in the home, and they had had a moisture issue at one point. 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 homeowner. 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 homeowner in Avon, CT found us online and told us that he was having issues with heat escaping. One big culprit in this case was actually a chimney! Building code requires that no combustible materials be within 2 inches of a chimney, so there is often an airspace from the basement up to the attic surrounding them. This can cause a major loss of heat in the winter.

With this chimney there was some debris around it that we cleaned up first. Then a metal flashing is installed and sealed with a high heat fire caulk to block cold air from moving up. Finally we wrap the chimney with rock wool. Rock wool is completely fireproof, making it totally safe and up to fire code

Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, there is no longer space around the chimney for warm air to escape and it is now safe to blow cellulose into the attic space around it.