Before & After Photos

This homeowner called because her 1949, Cape Style home, had been causing heat system concerns since she bought it in 2019. When the outside temperature changed, so did the inside. The homeowner had received 2 prior energy evaluations and even had some attic work done before she called us.

Our Building Science Specialists were able to identify that the drafty and uncomfortable Master Bath along with the problematic mudroom were actually caused, in large part, to the highly inefficient crawlspace below the home which had been a vented, dirt crawlspace. Dr. Energy Saver was able to the solve the problem by installing an Encapsulation System with Drainage Matting, Terra Block Floor Insulation, SilverGlo Insulation on the walls and an anti-microbial 20 mil liner, resulting in lower humidity, warmer floors, less drafts and a more comfortable house with lower fuel and electric bills. 

This Manchester, CT customer reached out to Fogarty's Home Services for a Free Home Energy Evaluation to determine why her home was experiencing drafts and coldness. One of the issues we found was leaky & poorly insulated rim joists. 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 batt insulation, doesn't stop the flow of cold air into the home. This explains why our customer had a drafty, cold house. To fix our customer's uncomfortable home, we installed two-part expanding spray foam on the rim joists and over sill plate to seal all air leaks from the outside and insulate the area. Fogarty's Home Services uses a Dr. Energy Saver spray foam with a high insulation value per inch of R7, and because it expands, it seals all cracks, gaps, and joints where air from the outside enters your home. Now our happy customer will feel the results, which include warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, and lower energy bills.

This homeowner reached out to us hoping that we could evaluate his attic. He had a mold issue, and his insulation was insufficient. 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 Manchester, CT was experiencing a problem with ice damming.  She also wanted to prevent warm air from leaking into her attic in the winter.  Our team installed our Super Knee Wall system.  These SilverGlo panels create a barrier to prevent air leakage.  The homeowner was very happy with the results.  The cost of heating and cooling her home will be reduced and the home will be more comfortable year-round.

This customer in Holyoke, MA called us out because of a concern they were having in their home. Their concern was that they could not keep their home or family room warm in the winter. This was caused by a lack of proper insulation in the attic of the home. Without proper insulation air can leak into your attic and out of your home, making it difficult and costly to keep a home warm.

To fix this, we use our SuperPlatform treatment. First we need to remove the existing insulation.  Our installers remove all of the old insulation, bag it up, and properly dispose of the materials. Since this home contains an HVAC system in their attic we have make sure there is a proper walkway, or catwalk in the attic. This makes it so that service can be done correctly and safely in a space where there are mechanics.  Next, we lay our 4" SilverGlo foam board across the wooded walkway. This will increase the insulation value by 24%. We want to make sure that none of the blown in insulation we are installing will get on to our new walkway. Next, we have to install plywood over the foam board and held in place by long screws and washers. Following this step, we dense pack TruSoft cellulose insulation into any space beneath the catwalk that is not filled. Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, this customer is warmer and ecstatic with the temperature in their home!