Before & After Photos

This homeowner called because her 1949, Cape Style home, had been causing heat system concerns since she bought it in 2019. When the outside temperature changed, so did the inside. The homeowner had received 2 prior energy evaluations and even had some attic work done before she called us.

Our Building Science Specialists were able to identify that the drafty and uncomfortable Master Bath along with the problematic mudroom were actually caused, in large part, to the highly inefficient crawlspace below the home which had been a vented, dirt crawlspace. Dr. Energy Saver was able to the solve the problem by installing an Encapsulation System with Drainage Matting, Terra Block Floor Insulation, SilverGlo Insulation on the walls and an anti-microbial 20 mil liner, resulting in lower humidity, warmer floors, less drafts and a more comfortable house with lower fuel and electric bills. 

This Manchester, CT customer reached out to Fogarty's Home Services for a Free Home Energy Evaluation to determine why her home was experiencing drafts and coldness. One of the issues we found was leaky & poorly insulated rim joists. 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 batt insulation, doesn't stop the flow of cold air into the home. This explains why our customer had a drafty, cold house. To fix our customer's uncomfortable home, we installed two-part expanding spray foam on the rim joists and over sill plate to seal all air leaks from the outside and insulate the area. Fogarty's Home Services uses a Dr. Energy Saver spray foam with a high insulation value per inch of R7, and because it expands, it seals all cracks, gaps, and joints where air from the outside enters your home. Now our happy customer will feel the results, which include warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, and lower energy bills.

This homeowner reached out to us hoping that we could evaluate his attic. He had a mold issue, and his insulation was insufficient. 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 customer. 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 Manchester, CT initially called us after his HVAC contractor recommended he get his attic insulation replaced. When our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home, the homeowner noted that he had high energy bills. He also stated that he had a rodent issue that he needed to address. 

We had the perfect solution for this customer! We utilized two-part expanding spray foam. We insulated the rim joist (the perimeter of the floor framing system along the exterior of the home). We spray this foam in the rim joist and over the sill plate. Insulating the rim joist in this way seals all air leaks -- filling in the cracks and gaps that are present there. This prevents outside air from getting into the home. The homeowner is now very happy, and he is much more comfortable in his home! 

This homeowner in Manchester, CT reached out to us wanting to talk to us about insulation. He believed that he needed insulation in his walls. When our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home, he noted a few issues with their insulation. In particular, it was noted that they had little insulation in their attic. Additionally, they had unencapsulated HVAC ducts. A vented attic is the worst possible place to locate ducts. Attics are the extreme opposite temperature of the air the ducts are trying to distribute to rooms in the home. They are 30˚F in winter when the air in the duct is 120˚F, and 125˚F in summer, when the air inside the duct is 55˚F. Ducts are very poorly insulated with fiberglass insulation - and air passes right through fiberglass. In winter the attic cools the duct and air in it. So instead of having 120˚F air that the homeowner paid to heat coming out of the registers into their rooms, it may be only 90˚F - making the residents uncomfortable, and the furnace run longer to heat the home - which costs them money. In the summer, the 120˚F + attic heats their ducts and air in them, and instead of 55˚F air that they paid to cool coming into their rooms, it may be 70˚ - reheated by the ducts in their hot attic. Their AC has to run longer to make them comfortable. Ducts have lots of joints, gaps and holes. These are not only air leaks into the vented attic when the air handler is OFF, but they are POWERED air leaks when it’s on. Air the homeowner paid to heat and cool and want to go to their rooms is leaking out of the ducts into their attic and is lost! Return duct leaks suck in very cold dusty air to try to heat, or very hot dusty air to try to cool. Result - Uncomfortable rooms, some rooms (farther from the air handler) won’t heat/cool, higher fuel and electric bills, more dust, more noise.

We had the perfect solution for this customer! In this solution, we seal and insulate ducts right over the existing insulation with 1” of closed cell foam insulation. Air cannot leak through the foam. Not only does Tite ‘n’ True Foam Duct Encapsulation have a superior R-value per inch, but it recovers some insulation value from their existing duct wrap by making it air tight. Any inaccessible areas on the bottom of ducts can’t be sprayed with foam, but when this solution is combined with TruSoft™ blown insulation, the ducts are often substantially buried in cellulose insulation as well. Now, when the furnace or air conditioner heats or cools the air, that heating/cooling is delivered to their rooms without loss along the way! Results - More comfortable rooms, warmer in winter and cooler in summer, less dust/noise, lower fuel/electric bills, longer furnace/AC equipment life.