Insulation FAIL!
The insulation that had originally been installed in the floor joists way back in 1989 is now rendered completely useless by the effects of gravity. No wonder the homeowner was complaining of cold floors in the winter.
Bare block walls of the crawl space
After the insulation that had been installed in the crawlspace had fallen away there was nothing to stop the cold bare block foundation walls from transmitting the heat out of the crawlspace in the winter. The result - chilly feet for the homeowners all winter. Wait til you see what the walls looked like when Dr. Energy Saver got done with them (see other photo)
Crawl space vent
Since we are changing to insulated foundation walls instead of insulation in the floor joists his will no longer be wanted and will be blocked off with a custom fit block of SilverGlo™
Blocked vent
We have sealed off the old unwanted crawlspace vent, since we have moved the insulation from the floor joists to the foundation walls.
Out with the old (insulation)
This is the insulation that existed. It had to be removed from the attic to prepare the attic floor for air sealing. It was replaced with TruSoft™ Cellulose and the R-value doubled. In the case of the crawlspace, the insulation had fallen away from the floor joists and lost all its effectiveness. No point in leaving it there to provide surface for growth of bacteria and provide a home for pests. It was replaced by SilverGlo™ rigid foam insulation installed on the foundation walls. That will continue doing its job until long after we are all gone.
Clean Attic Floor
This is how the attic floor looked after we removed the old insulation. Everything will be vacuumed clean. Then all the cracks, drywall gaps, electrical and plumbing penetrations from the rooms and wall structures below will be foamed shut to create a comfortable leak-proof home that retains its heat in winter and stays cool in summer.
New UltraSump4™ sump pump
This will quickly remove all the water that seeps up through the soil into the crawlspace before it. Sorry pests, but the pool is closed - FOR GOOD
Nice n Clean
Can you believe it? This was that nasty awful crawlspace, with dirt, cobwebs, standing water, and fallen insulation we saw in one of the other pictures. But look at it after Lawson Home Services hardworking crew finished with it. Amazing. Nice job crew!
Invisible Heat Transfer
We can't see it with the naked eye, but we can feel it and the heat transfer shows right up in an infrared camera. The yellow spots are the hot spots in the summer, making this hallway a source of costly indoor cooling expenses in the summer. It was replaced with a custom fitted air-tight insulated attic hatch.
Thermal bridging right through the ceiling drywall
This just happens to be in the summertime. But the blue shows the cold spots created by the wooden framing members, the other end of which extend right through the insulation above. This is invisible to the eye but shows up on the thermal imaging camera. These dark blue spots act as a pathway for energy loss in both summer in winter. If you look at one of the images in this photo gallery of the attic floor before we modified it, you will see the tops of ceiling rafters extend above the insulation, resulting in the unwanted transfer of heat.
Tops of framing members extending through the insulation
Wood is not a good insulator. In fact, it works to transfer heat to and from other surfaces. We call this a "thermal bridge." To stop thermal bridging from robbing your valuable energy dollars a 17" thermal blanket of TruSoft™ cellulose is laid across the entire attic floor, effectively burying the wooden ceiling rafters. If you look at one of the thermal images in another frame you will see these rafters showing up - the thermal infrared camera can literally see through walls and ceilings.
Leaky dryer vent leaking moisture into crawlspace
Check out this spot where a leak in the dryer vent that was designed to carry the dryer exhaust outside the house had a major failure. Who knows how long this was going on for? Essentially the homeowners were pumping the moisture out of their clothes right into the crawl space - where it raised the humidity and caused all kinds of problems, including inviting pest, growth of bacteria and mold, and absorption directly into the floor joists causing them to begin rotting.
Finished Attic Insulation
Thats a 17" blanket of TruSoft™ cellulose insulation covering everything including the rafters which no longer are extending up into the cold attic air. Even the HVAC ductwork is surrounded by the insulation which helps to keep the air at the temperature the air conditioner and heating unit create until it reaches the rooms where it is needed.
AeroSeal™ Certificate
The numbers prove that sealing the ductwork with AEROSEAL™ works. This will make sure all the air this homeowner pays to heat and cool actually gets to the rooms. Before the air sealing the ducts a lot of the conditioned was being leaked away into the attic - literally blowing money away. Before it was as if there was a 26 square inch hole - that's close to the same as leaving a bathroom window wide open the entire time you are running your heating or air conditioning. Now the leaks are down to an opening about the size of a smartphone.
Standing water in the crawl space
This is what we found lurking underneath the old ground cover plastic. We installed an UltraSump™ to deal with the ground water and installed a CleanSpace™ Moisture/Vapor barrier overtop the dirt to keep the floor structures above nice, clean, and most importantly DRY.
