TCI Home Services Case Studies: Upgrade Cellulose Insulation in Novi, MI
Challenge
The homeowner explained that he was looking to upgrade the insulation in the home because he noticed that the home did not hold its temperature very well and that his HVAC system would come on all the time. The symptoms of the problem were that the home was cold and drafty during the winter time and hot during the summer time. The problem was caused by having a lack of insulation on the attic floor to prevent the transfer of radiant heat into the home during the summer months and the transfer of heat from the home into the attic during the winter months. The homeowner chose to have the problem fixed because he was tired of paying too much for energy bills. He also wanted to upgrade the insulation in the attic because it was still original from when his home was built and was not even close to today's standards for code and energy efficiency. The homeowner's biggest concern was the he and his wife were not able to keep a consistent temperature in the home and therefore was not comfortable.
Solution
The homeowner chose our company because we met him at a Home Show and we were able to earn his trust that we would be the right company to fix his problems with his attic after seeing all the solutions that we were able to provide. Our solution was to remove the existing blown-in fiberglass insulation and air seal the floor penetrations. We then sealed the the metal chimney chase and wrapped it with a rockwool sleeve to prevent insulation coming into contact with it. We then installed an insulated duct o the bath fan exhaust and vented it out the attic. We then installed 17" of cellulose insulation on the attic floor to get an R60 value and then air sealed and insulated his hatch cover with SilverGlo foam board. One challenge that we faced was that we were also going to insulate the garage ceiling with dense packed cellulose insulation because the bedroom above the garage ceiling was experiencing cold floors during the winter but found that we were unable to fit our hose between the subfloor and the existing fiberglass batt insulation. So we had to remove insulating the garage ceiling from our solutions. We used EZ roll Rockwool wrap, ZypFoam, SilverGlo, Durovent Baffles, TruSoft Cellulos and Masterflow 4" insulated flex duct. The homeowner now has a properly insulated attic and is now energy efficient. The home is now maintaining consistent temperature and the HVAC is coming on far less often making the home more comfortable and costing the homeowner less to heat and cool the home.
