Trusted Radon Testing & Mitigation Company in Unionville, CT

This homeowner in Unionville, CT called us initially due to the inadequate insulation in his home. His insulation was poor, and he also had rodent issues. He additionally was looking into getting a new door for the bottom of his basement steps. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived, there was no door at the bottom of the stairs to keep out the outside air. Steps from the basement to the outdoors are convenient, but the (metal) hatch doors that cover them are completely uninsulated and leak lots of air. Cold winter air gets sucked into the home continually in winter. In summer, warm humid air enters the basement and causes condensation on cool floor, wall and duct surfaces. Results - Cold basement, cold floors on first floor, drafts, higher heating fuel costs, condensation in summer, higher electric costs for A/C.

We had the perfect solution for this customer -- a new insulated exterior door! Proper framing is installed and a new insulated exterior door with weatherstripping and locking knob is installed. Now “inside” the house is inside the door, and “outside” is outside the door, so it doesn’t matter that the hatch door is uninsulated and leaks air. Result - warmer basement and floors over the basement, drier basement in summer, lower fuel and electric costs, less drafts, house easier to heat, more security.

This homeowner in Unionville, CT reached out to us hoping for us to come out to the home he had purchased about 6 months ago. He believed the insulation was inadequate. They had bad comfort issues and had rodent issues as well. When our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home, he evaluated the home's insulation as a whole. In the attic, the homeowner had fiberglass batts. These batts were dirty - showing signs of severe air leakage. They also had a mold problem in their attic. However, before we were able to address the comfort issues and mold problem, we had to remove the old fiberglass batts first. 

We had the perfect solution for this customer. We bagged the fiberglass batts that were in the attic. We then removed them out to our truck. We vacuumed up any loose pieces of fiberglass along with dirt, rodent droppings, and other debris in the attic. Now, we will be able to dispose of the old, dirty insulation, and we will be able to re-insulate the home! 

This homeowner in Unionville, CT called us hoping that he would be able to get his attic insulation looked at. He was having inconsistent heating in his home and had drafts throughout the house. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived in the home, he noted that the insulation in the home was physically falling apart and crumbling. It was Balsam Wool batt insulation, and it had degraded severely over the years. 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. Attics are dramatically under-insulated compared to today’s standards. Result - cold drafty rooms downstairs, colder floors, house is harder to heat and keep comfortable, higher fuel and electric bills.

Adding insulation in an attic without sealing all air leaks first should never be done, because it would just be burying air leaks and making them impossible to seal later - and insulation DOES NOT STOP air leaks. This is why a comprehensive solution is important. For this customer, we first carefully air sealed the many various points where air from the home leaks up into the attic and is lost. We used expanding foam, boards, caulk, and metal flashing and fire caulk around the masonry. Finally, our premium TruSoft™ cellulose insulation was 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. Results - a warmer, more comfortable, less drafty house that the homeowner will notice everywhere - even downstairs! House is quieter. Fuel and electric bills are lower.