Fogarty's Home Services serving Willington, CT

This homeowner in Willington, CT called regarding his home's insulation being inefficient. Upon inspection, our Home Comfort Specialist agreed that this home had very poor attic insulation. 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.

To help this customer, we would replace the ineffective insulation with our own solutions. Adding insulation in an attic without sealing all air leaks first should never be done, be-cause you are burying air leaks and making them impossible to seal later - and insulation DOES NOT STOP air leaks. That’s why Dr. Energy Saver first carefully air seals the many various points where air from your home leaks up into your attic and is lost. We use expanding foam, boards, caulk, and metal flashing and fire caulk around your masonry or metal chimney as appropriate. If necessary, baffles (air chutes) are installed in each rafter bay to keep soffit vents clear and prepare for insulation. Finally, 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. Results - a warmer, more comfortable, less drafty house that you’ll notice everywhere - even downstairs! House is quieter. Fuel and electric bills are lower.

This homeowner in Willington, CT called us regarding his water damaged crawl space. Upon inspection, our Home Comfort Specialist noted that the crawl space was very moldy, including the insulation in the ceiling. As the insulation gets heavier with moisture content, it falls away from the sub floor even more and can even fall to the ground. Fiberglass batt insulation has paper facing and organic material in the resin used to set the fibers into a batt - both are mold food. Results - mold, smelly insulation that is not providing any insulation value and has sagged or even fallen.

Fogarty's Home Services recommended that the moldy insulation be removed and the crawl space be reinsulated. We will remove existing fiberglass batts from your crawl space. It’s not fun laying on your back in a tight (dirt) crawl space. Insulation has hostile fibers when it’s disturbed. The insulation is very bulky and takes up a tremendous amount of space in trucks and our dumpsters which must be emptied. But it’s necessary to have a healthy home in the end. Result - now your crawl space is ready to be fixed properly with other  solutions. The thermal boundary will likely be moved to the crawl space walls and vents eliminated. No more nasty fiberglass insulation!

This homeowner in Willington, CT called us with several issues with her new construction home. One of those issues is that the third floor of her home was not properly insulated.  The problems this causes are obvious. 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. Result - 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.

Our Home Comfort Specialists were able to recommend a solution. We recommended dense packing the exterior walls with ProWool™ premium insulation. Siding is removed temporarily as necessary and 29/16” 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 ProWool™. It’s remarkable, and something that can’t be achieved with fiberglass - not even close! Dense packed ProWool™ stops air flow through the wall and insulates. ProWool™ Rockwool is fireproof, mold 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). 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.