Spray Foam & Energy Efficiency Professionals Serving Coventry, CT

This homeowner in Coventry, CT called us regarding the mold she believed she was experiencing in her crawlspace. When we arrived to her home, our Home Comfort Specialist found very moldy and old fiberglass insulation in her crawlspace. High relative humidity in a crawl space will cause mold to grow on the surfaces of framing lumber, sub floors, insulation, and everywhere. Spores are the airborne seeds of mold, which are produced when the mold is growing and active. These spores float on airstreams up from the crawl space into the living space, and people with sensitivities can react to them. When we fix a crawl space properly, the crawl space will dry out enough so mold will not continue to grow.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. We used our Mold-X2 cleaner on her crawlspace. Mold-X2 Cleaner effectively eliminates mold and mildew stains on contact. It is non-abrasive and non-flammable, and is sprayed on effected areas. There is a temporary odor from the product, so we recommend that homeowners leave the house for a few hours, depending on how well the space can be ventilated. Once Mold-X2 Cleaner is applied, mold disappears instantly, leaving wood surface looking nearly new. Mold-X2 Botanical, a plant-based disinfectant with a pleasant, temporary scent, is sprayed or fogged on surfaces, which prevents mold from growing back. Results – The mold is eliminated, with no odors or potential for wood rot. Her crawl space was then ready for a permanent repair to keep humidity low.

This homeowner in Coventry, CT had a very poorly insulated basement. He had fiberglass insulation in his basement, which rodents liked to nest in. He was hoping for a complete removal and replacement of the insulation, with "anything but fiberglass". This insulation was in his rim joists, however, multiple rim joists seemed to have been skipped during the insulation process and were empty. 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 your 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.

Luckily, our Home Comfort Specialist was able to prepare a solution for him that was exactly what he needed. Two part expanding spray foam is installed on rim joist and over sill plate to seal all air leaks from the outside and insulate this important area of your 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 your home. Results - warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, your house is easier to heat and costs less to heat, less summertime condensation on cold basement surfaces. 

Most crawl spaces were built with dirt floors and not much care to preventing them from leaking groundwater. As a result many of them do leak. No exterior drainage and no outside waterproofing on the walls leads to heavy rains leaking in. To have a healthy, energy efficient crawl space, standing water must be pumped out.  Otherwise the relative humidity will never be under control, and mold, rot and pests will flourish in the space right under your feet. As the air makes it’s way up through your home, it will carry moisture, mold spores and odors to your living space. This results in mud, mold, rot, pests, insects, odors, higher heating and air conditioning costs, and an uncomfortable home.

The SmartSump™ is a sump pump system designed just for crawl spaces. It features a heavy, specially shaped sump liner to fit in crawl spaces and accept the CleanSpace floor liner, a 1/3 hp cast iron Zoeller pump with automatic float switch, a stand for the pump, and an airtight lid that keeps moisture from evaporating out of the sump hole. The “smart” part is an alarm that sounds in the event of a pump failure OR a plumbing leak (when installed with the CleanSpace™ Crawl Space Encapsulation System) as it drains the plumbing leak water away. A discharge line takes the water safely outside. The drain in the lid has a special check ball to let air down but moisture and odors can’t come up. Result - no water depth accumulation in your crawl space, your crawl space is ready for other solutions needed for complete results.

Most crawl spaces were built with dirt floors - and not much care to preventing them from leaking groundwater. As a result, many of them do leak. No exterior drainage and no outside waterproofing on the walls leads to heavy rains leaking in. To have a healthy, energy efficient crawl space, standing water must be pumped out. Otherwise, the relative humidity will never be under control, and mold, rot, and pests will flourish in the space right under your feet. As the air makes it's way up through your home, it will carry moisture, mold spores, and odors to your living space. Results - mud, mold, rot, pests, insects, odors, higher heating and air conditioning costs, and an uncomfortable home. The SmartSump™ is a sump pump system designed just for crawl spaces. It features a heavy, specifically shaped sump liner to fit in crawl spaces and accept the GoldSeal™ floor liner, a 1/3 hp cast iron Zoeller pump with automatic float switch, a stand for the pump, and an airtight lid that keeps moistures from evaporating out of the sump hole. The "smart" part is an alarm that sounds in the event of a pump failure OR a plumbing leak (when installed with the GoldSeal™ Crawl Space Encapsulation System) as it drains the plumbing leak water away. A discharge line take the water safely outside. The drain in the lid has a special check ball to let air down, but moisture and odors can't come up. Results - no water depth accumulation in your crawl space, your crawl space is ready for other solutions needed to complete results. 

These homeowners in Coventry, CT came to us with concerns of heat loss. This heat loss was obvious during the winter when they noticed that snow melted off their roof and formed icicles when other homes nearby still had no melting. This melting and freezing at the eves is called ice damming. When a vented attic is not sealed off from the conditioned space inside the home, the air that the homeowner pays to heat leaks up to the attic from any gaps or spaces and that heat then makes the roof warm enough to melt the snow on it. This melted snow then refreezes at the edge of the roof and creates a dam that does not let water run off and instead it pools up. Water then gets under the shingles and gets into the home, in the attic or exterior walls. If left untreated, this can do major damage to the home.

One source of leaking air is the space around a chimney. Due to fire code, no combustible materials can be within 2 inches of a chimney. Quite often this results in an airspace two inches around the chimney that goes from the basement all the way up to the attic. We installed metal flashing which we sealed with high temperature fire caulk which you can see in the photo above. We then wrap the chimney with our fireproof rock wool. Now insulation can be blown right up against the chimney.

Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, this attic is now sealed and ready for insulation. The homeowner will no longer have to worry about ice damming and their energy costs will be far lower.