Attic Insulation Case Studies: Insulation & Mold Remediation, Ann Arbor
Challenge
The home was sold as is and the new homeowner had mold in the attic along with an inconsistent R-value throughout the attic floor. The ductwork for the bath fans had also come apart from the roof cans and was now venting into the attic. Mold was covering the roof deck and trusses in the attic and the home was also not able to keep a consistent temperature. The problem was caused by the attic not having a good enough thermal boundary on the attic floor causing the rooms below to be warm/cool in the summer and the winter months. The soffits were also blocked with blown-in insulation that had been done previously. The bath fans were not being vented out of the attic and they were allowing moist humid air to be dumped into the attic, allowing moisture to build up on top of the roof deck. The homeowner chose to have the problem fixed because the smell of mold was evident and the home was not being energy efficient making the heating/cooling bills higher. Getting the mold removed so the home no longer had a musty odor and that the home was safe to live in.
Solution
The homeowner chose our company because we were knowledgeable of what needed to be done to remedy the problem of mold growth in the attic and what we could do to help reduce the heating /cooling bills and make the home more comfortable to live in. Our solution was to clean the attic by removing all the mold from the roof deck and trusses and adding baffles to the soffits after clearing them from the existing blown-in fiberglass that was not allowing the air to pass through properly. We then hooked the ductwork for the bath fans back up to the roof cans to allow the moist/humid air to be vented out of the attic space. We then used a rake to even out the existing insulation before we blew cellulose on top to get an R-60 insulation value. There were no real challenges faced during the installation process other than the insulation that was in the soffits was a little tough to clear with the rake so we had to use a leaf blower to help blow it out of the soffits.
