Leading Insulation & Mold Removal Company in Windsor, CT

This homeowner in Windsor, CT called us hoping we would be able to help him with his attic insulation. He was hoping to get his insulation removed and replaced due to a mold problem. The mold was in his bathroom as well as his attic, and the people remediating the bathroom stated that he would need his attic looked at as they could not help him with it. 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 Windsor, CT called us hoping that we would be able to help him with his basement. His old insulation had mice in it that had damaged the insulation and wiring. That insulation was removed, and it needed to be replaced. In a basement, 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 the home. 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. In this solution, we spray foam the rim joist in the basement in order to seal and insulate it. 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 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.

This homeowner in Windsor, CT called us hoping that we would be able to help him with his bulkhead door. He had an old bulkhead door installed that was on a concrete footing -- the initial egress was made in the early 1800s, and had been renovated several times since then. Therefore, he needed something that would fit perfectly with it.

Fogarty's Home Services was able to help this customer. We were able to install a beautiful new bulkhead door. We caulked around the edges and installed flashing behind the door to ensure a tight fit. Now, it looks amazing, and the homeowner is happy! 

This homeowner in Windsor, CT called us hoping that we would be able to help her with her basement. She needed help preventing mold, as she had had a mold issue in her basement. High humidity in a basement is caused by a number of important conditions. High humidity causes many problems in a home such as mold (which grows at Relative Humidities [RH] above 75%), rot (which happens above 90% RH) odors, airborne mold spores that aggravate allergies and asthma, increased pests and insects such as termites, and higher air conditioning and heating costs. Result - cold floors above, condensation, mold, rot, odors, drafty, uncomfortable home, higher fuel and electric bills.

We had the perfect solution for this customer. The SaniDry™ Sedona air system is a powerful but energy efficient dehumidification and air filtration system in one unit. Able to remove an incredible 100 pints of water per day and using only 5.9 amps of electricity, the SaniDry™ Sedona drains automatically to a sump or the outside with a condensate pump. It has a powerful 310 cfm blower to circulate the dry air completely around to dry building materials and contents. Mold doesn’t have a chance! An automatic control is easy - set it to 55% RH and forget it - the SaniDry™ Sedona does the rest! And there’s no buckets to empty! Results - Low Relative Humidity, mold stops growing, odors are reduced, basement is suitable for storage, lower air conditioning cost, upstairs is dryer.

This homeowner in Windsor, CT called us hoping that we would be able to help him with his attic. He had some insulation problems that made his home extremely susceptible to temperature changes. Vented attics are the worst possible place to locate ducts. Attics are the extreme opposite temperature of the air the ducts are trying to distribute to the rooms in a 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 their registers into their rooms, it may be only 90˚F - making them uncomfortable, and the furnace run longer to heat the home - which cost the homeowner money. In the summer, the 120˚F + attic heats the ducts and air in them, and instead of 55˚F air that the homeowner paid to cool coming into their rooms, it may be 70˚ - reheated by their ducts in their hot attic. The AC has to run longer to make the homeowner 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. Result - Uncomfortable rooms, some rooms (farther from the air handler) won’t heat/cool, higher fuel and electric bills, more dust, more noise.

We sealed and insulated the 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 the existing duct wrap by making it air tight. 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.

This homeowner called us hoping that we would be able to help with their attic insulation. They were having issues with snow melting on their roof abnormally. When our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home, he noticed that there was insufficient insulation. 

Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. However, before we were able to start the solution, we had to remove the damaged, soiled insulation in the attic. The batt insulation was bagged and then the attic was vacuumed to remove pieces, parts and dust. Result - Now the attic is clean! It’s ready for proper air sealing and installation of clean, new, fresh cellulose insulation to make the home comfortable and energy efficient.

Our customer in Windsor, CT called with concerns about his crawl space. Unfortunately, he had been experiencing frozen pipes and also had a leak in his crawl space. However, the crawl space was especially hard to access due to the tight space, and he was unsure how to proceed. Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services' Home Comfort Specialist identified an immediate solution when they went to do the evaluation. They would need an outside access space for their crawl space as well as crawl space encapsulation to seal off and insulate the home. 

The Home Comfort Specialist and homeowner agreed that the best course of action was to install the Turtl™ Crawl Space access system. We first identified the best spot to dig in order to access the crawl space. We then dug down under the foundation and into the crawl space. We then installed the Turtl™, making sure to work around it while also using our other solutions. Luckily, the Turtl™ Crawl Space access system is an airtight door and a sealed access well in one durable unit. This highly specialized product is the only one of it’s kind manufactured anywhere and is perfect for it’s purpose. You can open the lid and crawl into your crawl space without getting wet or dirty. The Turtl™ even has a place for a lock on it, and will never rust, rot or need paint! It’s airtight and watertight* and you can jump on it without a problem! Result - An airtight, watertight, durable crawl space access that keeps your home clean and healthy. Lower energy bills. 

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, porch or “three season room”, 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, and conductive heat loss 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.

The floor joist bays, whether hollow or insulated with batts, are “dense packed” with TruSoft™ cellulose insulation. “Dense packing” is Dr. Energy Saver’s special technique to pack the cellulose in so tightly that it stops air flow through the floor. The insulation can be installed by removing siding and drilling holes to insert a fill pipe, (holes are plugged and siding is reinstalled), or through the bottom of the floor. TruSoft™ fills all gaps and odd shaped cavities in the floor - even around pipes, wires and cross bridging. TruSoft™ is treated to be fire retardant, and pest and mold resistant. Dense packed TruSoft™ also quiets your floors dramatically, getting rid of that hollow floor sound. The result - Much warmer floors, less drafts and more comfortable rooms, quieter home, lower fuel and electric bills.

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. Nealy 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 floor and up the warmer interior wall, and across the ceiling back to the exterior wall. The is called a "convective loop" and makes rooms feel even draftier. Results - cold, drafty rooms, uncomfortable home, heating and cooling systems run much more and need more service, difficult to keep house at comfortable temperature, high fuel and electric bills, dry home in winter, more dust/pollen, more humidity in the house in summer when air conditioned. Siding is removed temporarily as necessary and 2 ⁹⁄₁₆" 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 cellulose. It's remarkable, and something that can't be achieved with fiberglass - not even close! Dense packed cellulose stops air flow through the wall and insulates. TruSoft™ Cellulose is treated to be highly fire, mold, and pest resistant. Holes are plugged and siding is put back. With wood siding, old nail holes and new nails may be noticeable on close inspection. Very small new nail heads will be visible on aluminum siding. (If specified, siding will not be removed, but drilled and plugged instead). Results - A less drafty, warmer, quieter, more comfortable house, less dust/pollen, house not so dry in winter, lower fuel/electric bills, heating system runs less - less maintenance. 

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. 

A local homeowner in Windsor reached out to us about their attic not being well insulated. There was pink insulation foam loosely scattered around the attic not even covering the corners. This is not doing anything for the home owner and the homeowner is suffering to keep energy in the home. 

Solution: 

The Dr. Energy saver solution is to rip out all the old useless insulation, Apply Moldx2 cleaner and MoldX2 Botanical. Then install a super platform with SilverGlo and sprayed the attic floor with TruSoft cellulose. This Attic is now fully insulated and will keep the home owner warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  

These home owners in Windsor, CT Had called us to their home because they could not keep the living space at a comfortable temperature. When our building science specialist got to the home, he realized that this home had a couple of problems that were making this home hard to heat.

The biggest problem was the attic. It was severely under insulated and had no air sealing. To solve this, first thing we did was remove all of the old nasty insulation. Then, we air sealed the entire attic making sure we got every penetration through the drywall, every top plate, and every end plate. After we did that, we installed a catwalk going the length of the attic to give the homeowners a little bit of storage space and a place for them to walk if they ever had to go up there. The final thing to do was to blow our Trusoft cellulose insulation to an R-value of R-60. This is the recommended amount of insulation the department of energy says all home in New England should have. 

The next area of the home was the basement. We spray foamed the rim joist so that no cold air could get into the house from this location. Doing this and properly insulating the attic, will help tremendously with making this home a more comfortable space for these home owners and their kids to live. 

The last thing we did was dense pack the floor above the garage. Both of the bedrooms that they used are above the garage and they were always freezing cold in the winter and super hot in the summer. To fix this, we dense packed every single bay. Making sure to get all the way down the bays so there is no area cold air can get into the living space. 

Once we completed these treatments, this home is now so much more comfortable and energy efficient!