Fix Leaky Attic Pull-Down Stairs in North Adams, MA
Challenge
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 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! Results - cold, drafty rooms that are hard to heat, high overall home air leakage, and higher energy bills.
Solution
To fix this uncomfortable problem, Fogarty's Home Services installed an exclusive "David Lewis Hatch Cover™" (named for the engineer who developed it). This hatch cover 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 into 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. Results - a tighter, more comfortable, less drafty home you'll notice, rooms are easier to heat, and lower energy bills.
