TCI Home Services Case Studies: Insulation & Remediation in Pinckney, MI
Challenge
The homeowner had just bought the home and during the home inspection mold was found all over the roof inside the attic. The homeowner also explained that the temperature upstairs was not consistent with the temperature on the main floor. Mold was found all over the roof sheathing trusses and insulation. The upstairs was around 10 degrees cooler than downstairs during our inspection in the winter. The problem was caused by high humidity in the attic being caused by lack of ventilation coming from the soffits as they are blocked with insulation. The insulation of the attic floor was also lacking causing the air that was being heated in the home to radiate into the attic causing condensation to build up on the roof deck from warm air coming in contact with the cold roof. The homeowner chose to have the problem fixed because he knew he had to get this taken care of before the problem got worse and it would save him money in the long run with not spending so much money on his utility bills. The homeowners biggest concern with the problem was that his family was living under a mold infestation that was a large heath concern.
Solution
The homeowner chose our company because we were knowledgeable about our solution to correct the problems that were going on that he was concerned about and that he thought we were reasonably priced for the work that we proposed. Our solution was to remediate the mold in the attic and remove all of the insulation that was in the attic. Once the mold was removed and the attic was restored to a clean and heathy space we would air seal the attic floor penetrations, clear the soffit vents of insulation and cover the attic floor with cellulose to an R60 value. We faced two challenges during the installation process. The first was the slope of the driveway made it difficult for our insulation truck to get up the hill without causing damage to the driveway and the step on the back of our insulation truck. We had to go over the grass about 2' in order to achieve the angle required to clear the back step from hitting his driveway. The second challenge was the amount of water we went through. We had a small crack in one of the brass fittings on our collar that was leaking a lot of water and we had to refill our tank. We used Mold X2 products for the remediation, TruSoft venting baffles, SilverGlo, ZypFoam, Weather-stripping, Rockwool Metal Chimney Wrap and TruSoft Cellulose. The homeowner now has a healthy clean attic and an Energy Star rated attic insulation. After performing the job the homeowner had mentioned that the upstairs was noticeably warmer in just a few hours after completing the job.
