TCI Home Services Case Studies: Cleaned and Upgraded Attic in Ann Arbor, MI
Challenge
The homeowner explained that the upstairs is always warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter than the rest of the house. The symptoms of the problem were an 8-10 degree difference from the upstairs to downstairs. The problem was caused by the attic floor lacking insulation to meet the standards for Michigan's thermal zone. The homeowner chose to have the problem fixed because they were finally in a position to afford this project and have been wanting to do this for years. They have been living uncomfortably in the home since they bought the house and knew that upgrading the attic insulation would make a big difference. The homeowners biggest concern with the problem was that it would be uncomfortable being upstairs for long periods of time depending on the season.
Solution
The homeowner's chose our company because we were able to provide exactly what they were looking for on their accomplish list and we were also in the price range they were expecting/comfortable with moving forward on. They were able to see the benefits clearly and everything during the presentation made sense on how our solution would impact their comfortability. Our solution was to remove the current insulation that was on the attic floor (4" loose rock wool and unfaced R19 fiberglass batt), air seal all of the penetrations on the attic floor (top/bond plates, wire/pipe penetrations ect.), remediate mold that was present on the 1x6 slat style roof decking and trusses, air seal the chimney chase that is open to the attic and then insulate the attic floor to an R60 R-value. Some of the challenges that we faced during the installation process was removal of the insulation in an area where the roof pitch was very low making it difficult to reach the eave to vacuum the insulation and air seal the top plates. Another challenge that we faced was the weight of the hatch made it difficult to lower back down after the insulation collar around the hatch was installed. We used a combination of products to achieve our end result. We used MoldX2 products to remediate the mold on the roof deck and trusses, ZypFoam, Metal flashing, Fire Caulk, Rock Wool Board, 22" x 4' DuroVent Rafter Vents (Baffles), 1/2" Foam board for the insulation collar around the hatch and TruSoft Cellulose.
