TCI Home Services Case Studies: Air Seal & Insulate for comfort in Brighton, MI
Challenge
The homeowner had her attic remediated three years ago by a different company and she has mold re-growing on her sheathing. She explained that the company told her that they corrected the ventilation and yet they only installed half the amount of baffles that they were needed, leaving the other soffit vents blocked with insulation. Her other concern was that her bathroom fan exhaust vents on the gable wall were blocked by bird nests and not allowing the humid air from the bathrooms to vent out of the attic properly. Mold growth was present on the roof sheathing and trusses within the attic. The problem was caused by lack of intake ventilation coming from the soffit vents that had still been blocked by insulation and baffles not being installed. A lack of insulation was also allowing the heat from the conditioned space below to radiate into the attic and cause condensation to form on the roof deck. The homeowner chose to have the problem fixed because they had mold remediation done previously in the attic that the problem had been corrected. They wanted a solution that would be permanent and would not be a recurring problem that they would have to pay every few years to be dealt with. The homeowner's biggest concern with the problem was that it not corrected the first time by the company that had claimed that they had fixed the cause of the problem even though she went into the attic herself and discovered that not to be true after seeing that her soffit vents were still blocked and the baffles that they had installed were not even stapled to the sheathing.
Solution
The homeowner chose our company because she got into the attic with us and we were able to show her the ventilation problems that the previous remediation company did not correct and she understood how correcting these problems would correct the regrowth of mold in the attic from returning. Our solution was to remove the contaminated/dirty blown in fiberglass and fiberglass batt insulation from the attic floor in order to seal the gaps in the attic floor that were allowing warm air from thee conditioned space below to radiate into the attic (top plate, bond plate, wire and pipe penetrations ect.). We then remediate the mold in the attic space to make sure that the attic would be clean and healthy. We removed the baffles that were previously installed and installed the correct size baffles for 24" on center rafters to make sure the soffits were breathing properly. We air sealed and insulated the attic hatch cover and installed can light covers over the recessed lighting. We removed the bird nests that were blocking the air path inside the gable wall vents for the bathroom fan exhausts and installed insulated ducking and air sealed around the gap to prevent backdraft airflow from venting back into the attic. Lastly we insulated the attic floor with Cellulose to R60. The only challenge that we faced during the installation process was one portion inside the attic was limited in height between the roof deck and attic floor making it difficult to access. We used MoldX2 products, Masterflow Insulated Ducting, SilverGlo, Weather stripping, ZypFoam, DuroVent Baffles, Titeshell Recessed light fixture cover, TruSoft Cellulose Insulation. The homeowner now has a more comfortable upstairs year around that retains the temperature that the thermostat is set to. She also has a mold free clean and healthy attic that is breathing properly.
