Remediation & Insulation in South Lyon, MI
Challenge
The homeowner explained while he was looking into the attic to find where he would be running new wires for new electrical outlets he noticed that his sheathing in the attic was completely black and mold was all over. The symptoms of the problem were very high humidity in the attic, stagnant air, mold growth present on all of the roof and gable sheathing as well as the trusses and insulation. The problem was caused by a lack of intake ventilation in the attic. The attic ventilation relies on High and Low ventilation ie. Ridge vent and Soffit vents. The Fiberglass batt insulation was installed all the way up to the roof deck without baffles, closing off the intake from the soffit vents. The homeowner chose to have the problem fixed because he did not want mold in his home and he needed to do some rewiring in his home and he did not want to go into the attic and potentially get himself sick as well as contaminate the inside of his living space and produce a much bigger problem. The homeowner's biggest concern with the problem was the health of his family. Being that the mold is an allergen, he didn't want his family to endure any health effects caused by mold.
Solution
The homeowner chose our company because we were able to provide a detailed solution on getting his attic back to a healthy state, as well as providing him with the means of saving money on his energy bills by upgrading his previous fiberglass batt insulation to cellulose. We were able to work with him with the means of saving money on his energy bills by upgrading his previous fiberglass batt insulation to cellulose. We were also able to work with him by doing the job in two parts by removing the insulation and remediation the mold in one part, giving him the ability to run new wires in the attic, and then coming back another scheduled day to re-install the new insulation. Our solution was to remove all of the fiberglass batt insulation from the attic floor and then remediate the mold in the attic from the roof deck, trusses and floor. We then installed a structural covering made of OSB over the sloped open staircase ceiling from inside the attic and sealed it airtight with expanding polyurethane foam. After installed all new insulated ducts (provided by the homeowner) and sealed them against the gable wall with expanding polyurethane foam. We then installed 4" SilverGlo foam board on top of the hatch cover to provide insulation for the hatch and sealed the bottom of the hatch with weather-stripping to prevent air leaks. We then installed a David Lewis Whole House Fan Cover over the whole house fan to insulate a rather large area of the attic floor that would otherwise be uninsulated. We sealed all top plates, bond plates, wire and pipe penetrations with one part expanding polyurethane foam and then insulated the attic floor to an Energy Star Rating with 17" of cellulose to R60. One of the challenges that we faced during the installation was the whole house fan being directly in the middle of the main run of the attic as well as being in front of the attic hatch. This made it difficult for getting in and out of the attic. We used a combination of products to achieve our solution. We used Mold X2 products, 4' x 22" DuroVent rafter vents (baffles), 7/16" OSB, 4" SilverGlo™ foamboard, 1/2" Foamboard, weather-stripping, adhesive caulk, ZypFoam™, David Lewis™ Whole House Fan Cover and TruSoft™ Cellulose. The homeowner now has a clean, healthy attic that is free of mold and is now insulated to the highest Energy Star Rating, providing them a more comfortable home while saving money on their energy bills.
