Attic Insulation Case Studies: Water Staining turned into New Blown Cellulose Insulation in Lake Orion, MI
Challenge
The homeowner explained that she noticed some water staining on her ceiling and had a roofer come out to look for leaks. The roofer didn't find any leaks but did say that he found mold growth on a few parts of the roof sheathing inside of the attic. The symptoms of the problem were the roofing nails were rusted in the attic. The location of the mold on the roof sheathing was also frozen at the time of inspection. The problems in the attic were caused by not having a vapor barrier installed below the blown in fiberglass insulation was below R30. The other problem was caused by a birds nest in the eave that was completely blocking the soffit not allowing airflow to enter the attic. The homeowner chose to have the problem fixed because she did not want further damage to the sheathing and did not want further damage to the attic ceiling. The homeowner's biggest concern with the problem was that water was getting on her ceiling and she did not want any further damages to occur nor did she want mold growing in her home.
Solution
The homeowner chose our company because we were able to locate the root cause of the problem and had a solution to remedy it. We were also able to help her save money on her energy bills by being able to properly insulate her attic as well. Our solution was to completely remove the blown-in fiberglass insulation, Remediate the mold within the attic space, clear the soffit of the birds nest to allow proper intake ventilation, air seal all the penetrations on the attic floor, air seal and insulate the leaky can lights, and re-insulate the attic floor to an energy efficient R60. The one challenge that we faced during the installation process was that our misting collar to stabilize the installation was giving us problems with a consistent spray and therefore would clog the hose. We were able to fix the misting collar spray nozzles with spares that we had on hand. We used Mold X2 products to remediate the mold in the attic, Titeshell can light covers, Silverglo, Zypfoam, Weather stripping, Durovent Baffles and TruSoft Cellulose Insulation. The homeowner now has a clean, healthy attic and is properly insulated for energy efficiency in Zone 5 of Michigan.
