Spray Foam Insulation & Mold Specialists in East Longmeadow, MA

This homeowner in East Longmeadow, MA called us hoping that we would be able to improve the insulation in his home. When our Home Comfort Specialist came out to inspect the home, he found a number of issues in the home. However, one of the largest ones was the insufficient insulation that was in his attic currently. 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 underinsulated 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.

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 we first carefully air seal the many various points where air from the home leaks up into the attic and is lost. Then, 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 the homeowner notice everywhere - even downstairs! House is quieter. Fuel and electric bills are lower.

This customer in East Longmeadow, MA called us due to issues he was having with his pipes freezing in the walls of his home. Upon arriving, our Home Comfort Specialist noticed insufficient insulation in his attic. 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.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services was able to remove the old attic insulation. Adding insulation in an attic without sealing all air leaks first should never be done, because you are burying air leaks and making them impossible to seal later - and insulation DOES NOT STOP air leaks. That’s why we first carefully air seal the many various points where air from your home leaks up into your attic and is lost. We use expanding foam, insulation boards, caulk, 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.

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 batts, doesn’t stop the flow of cold air into your home.  The results are cold floors. drafty, uncomfortable rooms, higher heating and cooling bills and more condensation in the basement or crawl space in the summer.

Fogarty's Home Services solution is to spray foam the rim joists to seal and insulate.  A two part expanding spray foam is installed on the  rim joist and over the sill plate to seal all air leaks from the outside and insulate this important area of your home. Fogarty's Home Services uses spray foam with a high insulation value per inch of R7, and because it expands, it seals all cracks and gaps and joints where air from the outside enters your home.  

The results are warmer floors, less drafts, less condensation on cold basement surfaces in the summer and more comfortable rooms.

Your poured concrete basement walls are buried in the cool earth and are perpetually cold - about 17°F cooler than we like the interior of our homes to be. In the winter, the part of the foundation that sticks up above the ground is much colder than that. Heat moves from more to less. The dense concrete has a lot of mass and heat from our basement constantly flows into and through the wall by conduction. You can never heat them up. If you have a furnace, boiler, or water heater in the basement, the heat that comes off this equipment is wasted - lost into the cold concrete, instead of warming the basement and floors above it. In the summer, warm humid air from outside hits your cold basement walls and condensation forms, supporting mold. Results - cold basement, cold floors above the basement, higher fuel bills, and more difficult to heat the house.  Our Foamax™ polyisocyanurate (polyiso) foam insulation board is installed on your basement walls with Dr. Energy Saver's proprietary Foam-Tite fasteners. But not just any foam -Foamax™ polyiso foam has the flame retardant properties to satisfy building codes to leave it exposed in a basement - unlike expanded or extruded polystyrene foam (EPS, XPS). In addition, the Foamax™ polyiso board has a foil facing to reflect heat so the insulation isn't doing all the work by itself. Results - warmer, more comfortable basement, warmer floors above the basement, less condensation in the summertime, lower fuel bills, and the house is easier to heat. 

This homeowner in East Longmeadow, MA was having issues with drafts in the home. Luckily, a friend referred them over to us and upon speaking with our Appointment Center, we knew that we could help them and scheduled a free evaluation for them. The evaluation revealed that one of the main issues was air seeping in through the rim joist.

The rim joist is the perimeter of the floor framing along the exterior of a house. Rim joists are rarely insulated or air sealed to stop air leaks in the joints and gaps. With these leaks, cold air seeps in and up into the home causing cold floors and drafts. Inf the summer, humid air can make its way in, condensing once it comes in contact with the much cooler basement or crawlspace, potentially causing mold.

In order the stop these leaks, our team sprayed two part expanding spray foam on the rim joist and sill plate to stop the air leaks. The foam has an insulation value of R7 per square inch. 

Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, drafts are no longer getting pulled up into this home