Homeowners attic had little to no insulation and mold in Wethersfield, CT
Challenge
These homeowners noticed they didn’t have much attic insulation and mold spores in their attic.
They gave Fogarty’s Home Services a call and our building science specialist came out to give a free evaluation. Upon evaluation we immediately found mold spores in the attic and the pink batt insulation was sporadically placed and not helping with insulation affecting the energy efficiency of the home. There was no insulation surrounding the chimney due to building code leaving millions of homes including this homeowner with airspace from the basement or crawl space right into the attic. Air that you paid to heat ultimately leaks out of your home to the vented attic where it is lost. These homeowners also had sloped stairwell ceilings open to the attic creating a big triangular space that is open to the attic and creates a heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer. The sidewall open to the attic is hard to insulate often air leaks from the walls of your house into the attic. The bathroom fan was also vented into the attic which cause the mold spores to develop in the first place. Often plumbers and electricians leave fans dumped into the attic. But when warm humid air hit the cold attic surfaces - it condenses into water. Resulting in mold all over your roof deck, rafters, and ceiling joist, and in some cases even rot.
Solution
How we made this homeowner's home safer and more comfortable by treating the mold and insulating the attic.
Removing the batt insulation is the first step in preparing this home to be properly air-sealed and insulated. After the removal, we then air seal the floor with zyp foam. The many various points where air from your home leaks up into your attic and is lost are sealed completely. We use expanding foam, boards, caulk, metal flashing, and fire caulk around your masonry as appropriate. This homeowner's chimney needed what we call a “chimney wrap”. First, the space between the wood framing and masonry is flashed with metal and then sealed airtight with special high-temperature caulk. Then completely fireproof “Rock Wool” insulation panels are installed around the chimney so that Trusoft cellulose insulation may be blown against the chimney. Chimney wrap leaves no gaps in the insulation around your chimney and seals one of the biggest air leaks in your home. The scuttle cover is then air sealed and insulated with SilverGlo to stop air leakage. The SilverGlo we use is graphite infused into the foam which bumps up the R-value by 24% over standard EPS foam. In addition, its radiant barrier reflects heat from the hot summer attic in the summer. The ducted fan is reinstalled to where it is supposed to be - safely outside. The bath fan was ducted with insulated ( northern climates ) ductwork outside through the roof shown at the left with a proper vent hood. This helps to no longer feed moisture to mold in your attic. To get rid of the mold we used our MoldX2 cleaner and MoldX2 botanical for the treatment area. Moldx2 cleaners effectively will eliminate mold and mildew stains on contact. It’s a plant-based disinfectant with a pleasant, temporary scent sprayed or fogged on surfaces, which prevents mold from growing back. The final step is to insulate the attic floor with our Trusoft Cellulose insulation blown to optimum R-value (typically R-60). TruSoft cellulose 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. The results of fixing this uncomfortable home helped to make this home warmer, more comfortable, and less drafty house that they’ll notice everywhere - even downstairs! House is much quieter with lower fuel and electric bills.
