Energy Audit & Spray Foam Insulation Company in Great Barrington, MA

This homeowner in Great Barrington, MA called us hoping that we would be able to help him with his attic. He was having some mold issues that needed to be fixed.

We had the perfect solution for this customer. In this solution, we utilize our Mold-X2 Cleaner and Botanical solutions. Mold-X2 Cleaner effectively eliminates mold and mildew stains on contact. It is non-abrasive and non-flammable, and is sprayed on effected areas. Once Mold-X2 Cleaner is applied, mold disappears instantly, leaving wood surfaces looking nearly new. Mold-X2 Botanical, a plant-based disinfectant with a pleasant, temporary scent, is sprayed or fogged on surfaces, which prevents mold from growing back. Now the attic is ready for other solutions. Result - Mold eliminated, no odors or wood rot.

This homeowner in Great Barrington, MA called us saying that he needed a summer cottage converted to a four-season home. The home had very little insulation, especially in the basement. Our Home Comfort Specialist went out to assess the home. When he got there, he found that there was, notably, no insulation in the rim joist. 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. Results - cold floors, drafty, uncomfortable rooms, cold basement/lower level, higher heating and cooling bills and more condensation in the basement or crawl space in the summer.

We had the perfect solution for this customer. Two part expanding spray foam was installed on the rim joist and over the sill plate to seal all air leaks from the outside and insulate this important area of the home. Our spray foam has 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 the home. Results - warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, the house is easier to heat and costs less to heat, less summertime condensation on cold basement surfaces.

Many older homes have no insulation in the exterior walls. 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. This results in cold, drafty rooms, an uncomfortable home, heating and cooling systems run 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.

The Solution: Dense pack 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. 

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, more difficult to heat the house. Foam insulation board is installed on your basement walls with Dr. Energy Saver's proprietary Foam-site fasteners. But not just any foam - Polyisocyanurate 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 "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 basement, less condensation in the summertime, lower fuel bills, house is easier to heat. 

Some homes or additions are designed with floors that have the outside air under them. Other times, a home or addition was originally used as a summer home, "three season room", or barn and was converted to all-season heated space later. When the outside air flows under a floor, it feels very cold and uncomfortable in the winter - especially with ceramic tile, linoleum, or laminate floors. Since the floor is the surface of the room we are in contact with most, it's very important to fix, in order to be comfortable. There are two issues - air leakage through the floor, because heat moves from more to less through solid materials. Even if there is fiberglass batt insulation in the floor, because it sags down away from the sub floor, the same outside air gets over it ("thermal bypass") rendering it useless. Mold on the floor joists and sub floor is also a concern.

SilverGlo™ foam insulation board is installed across the bottom of your floor joists with special long screws and 3" washers. SilverGlo™ is expanded polystyrene foam with graphite infused into the foam, which bumps up the insulation ("R") value by 24% over standard EPS foam. Further, SilverGlo™ has a radiant barrier to reflect heat, so the insulation isn't doing all the work by itself. All seams are sealed. If necessary, a skirt board can be installed around the perimeter of the insulation so the edge is not visible. The skirt board may require painting after we are complete. Results - much warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, quieter home, lower fuel and electric bills.

This homeowner called us out to their home to help make their home more energy efficient. They were having issues with drafty rooms. We conducted our Full Home Energy Evaluation to see how their home was operating. First we sit down and go over their main concerns, and then we do our walk-through with the homeowner, and then we sit with the homeowner again to go over out findings. We noticed one big thing was that they had little to no insulation in their attic. They had leftover fiberglass insulation in their attic from a long time ago, that was inefficient and not doing them any good, it was especially not helping their issues. We set up our Production team with all of the information and materials they needed, and they got to work. They first remove all of the old insulation, properly bag it and dispose of it. Then we air seal and insulate the attic, and kneewalls of the home to ensure more comfortable, consistent temperatures rooms throughout the home. Once we have done this, this homeowner has witnessed more comfortable temperatures, lower energy bills, and no more drafty rooms!

Below is a photo of finished blown in insulation of the attic!