Local Insulation and Home Energy Company in Litchfield County, CT

Problem: 

This home in Torrington was not well insulated in some areas and not even insulated in others. This owner gave us a call to figure out what could be done to help their home. On the call we told them we would get an evaluator to their home as soon as possible. 

Solution:

The evaluator looked at the home and discovered there was a lot of areas in the home that needed to be re-insulated and a first time insulation. The home had two attics so both of them needed to be fully done. Our team took out the old insulation in both attics and went forward with home owners permission to reinsulate the sides with SilverGlo foam boards and to spray the bottom with TruSoft cellulose. The same thing was done in the kneewall space but with this one there was no insulation before so we just added the foam boards and the cellulose. 

The homeowner was happy and ready to save money thanks to Dr.Energy saver by Fogarty's home services 

Attic hatch pull down stairs are necessary to access your attic. The problem is that when closed, they leak a LOT of air that you paid to heat from your home to the vented attic where it is lost. All of this warm air leaving the top of the house is replaced with cold outside air entering at the lower levels of your home, causing drafts, cold floors and uncomfortable rooms that are hard to heat. In addition to these problems, your pull down stairs are a big area in your ceiling that is not insulated - and your attic can be 30°F in the winter and a blazing 130°F in the summer! Result - cold, drafty rooms that are hard to heat, high overall home air leakage, and higher heating and cooling (fuel and electric) bills. Fogarty's Home Services has an exclusive "David Lewis Hatch Cover" (named for our engineer who developed it) that rests right over your pull down stairs. It stops air leakage and insulates over the stairs. Made of lightweight SilverGlo™ foam insulation, you just lift it aside to go up to your attic, and set it back in place when you leave. You don't see anything from the finished area of your home. SilverGlo™ foam insulation has graphite infused into the foam which bumps up the insulation value by 24% over standard EPS foam. It also has a radiant barrier (foil) on the flat lid to reflect heat back in during winter and out in the summer, so the insulation isn't doing all the work by itself. Result - a tighter, more comfortable, less drafty home you'll notice. Rooms are easier to heat. Lower fuel and electric bills.

Many older homes have no insulation in the exterior walls. This causes obvious problems. Heat flows from more (inside) to less (outside in winter) right through the walls, and the opposite in summer. Nearly all walls leak air, insulated or not, causing drafts. The cold wall surface cools interior air which then sinks and travels across the floor and up the warmer interior wall, and across the ceiling back to the exterior wall. This is called a "convective loop" and makes rooms feel even draftier. Results - cold, drafty rooms, uncomfortable home, heating and cooling systems run much more and need more service, difficult to keep house at comfortable temperature, higher fuel and electric bills, dry home in winter, more dust/pollen, more humidity in the house in summer when air conditioned. Siding is removed temporarily as necessary and 2 9/16" holes are drilled through the wall sheathing. A fill tube is 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. It's remarkable, and something that can't be achieved with fiberglass - not even close! Dense packed cellulose stops air flow through the wall and insulates. TruSoft™ Cellulose is treated to be highly fire, most and pest resistant. Holes are plugged and siding is put back. With wood siding, old nail holes and new nails may be noticeable on close inspection. Very small new nail heads will be visible on aluminum siding. (If specified, siding will not be removed but drilled and plugged instead). Results - 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 maintenance. 

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 the 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, and higher energy bills. Any batt insulation in the floor is removed. Then, expanding foam insulation is sprayed to the bottom of the floor using special equipment. the foam fills all voids, gaps, and odd-shaped cavities - even around pipes, wires, and cross bridging. Unlike fiberglass, foam insulation stops air flow through the floor which is critical to get the results you want. The R-value is far superior to fiberglass insulation and has integrity with no gaps or air flowing through it. Spray foam is not completely flat and thicknesses will vary. Spray foam will also make a quieter less hollow sounding floor. (Need at least 36" under the floor to spray foam). Results - much warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, quieter home, and lower energy bills. In

This homeowner in New Hartford, CT called us hoping to get some supplemental support in a basement prior to the home being sold. Structural problems, such as settling columns or sagging beams and floor joists, are common within homes. Settlings of columns in a basement is most often caused by weak foundation soils. Over time, these soils shift and settle with changes in moisture content and density, causing movement of the columns and the beams above. Sagging beams and floor joists are often the result of improper spacing of existing pier columns, effectively overloading beams and causing them to bend and sag. Excess moisture and wood rot can also cause beams and joists to weaken over time. Result - unlevel floors, cracking walls, doors and windows don't function correctly. 

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had a solution to the issue this customer was having. We utilized our SmartJack™ floor support system. The SmartJack™ system will level and stabilize the existing beams and floor joists in a home. A solid base of engineered fill addresses problems with weak foundation soils by effectively transferring the load to competent strata. Industrial strength, galvanized steel columns are secured to the beams or joists in the basement. A heavy-duty, threaded rod allows for adjustment and a custom fit for each SmartJack™ system that is installed. The SmartJack™ is made from high-strength steel components and provides the best opportunity to lift the above floors and walls back to their original, level position. The SmartJack™ is galvanized for corrosion-resistance, can be installed in very tight conditions where height or access is limited. Results - immediate stabilization of floors, floors are level, improved operation of doors and windows, restoration of property value.