Attic Insulation in South Lyon, MI
Challenge
The homeowner explained that they had gone up into the attic and noticed that all of the roof sheathing was black and what they believed to be mold. The symptoms of the problem were high humidity and heat in the attic. Rusty water droplets were found all over the attic floor insulation and a musty smell could be detected in the attic. The problem was actually a combination of two things. First the bathroom fan ducts were venting toward a soffit vent and to a designated vent that takes the warm humid air out of the attic space. The second problem was that the soffit vents were blocked with insulation that was installed without any blockers causing the insulation to fall down into the soffit vents. The homeowner chose to have the problem fixed because the mold could potentially cause health problems to himself and his family and during the warm months of the year the upstairs had a slight musty smell that was coming from the attic into their living space. The homeowner's biggest concern with the problem was the health aspect for his family living under all of the mold that was in the attic. Some of the members of the family have seasonal allergies and having mold in the attic would only exacerbate the symptoms.
Solution
The homeowner chose our company because we were very fair/similar in price to some of the other companies that provided quotes, but the customer thought that our knowledge of our products, what caused the problem and how it can be fixed was superior. Our solution was to remove all of the insulation from the attic floor as it had been impacted by all of the mold in the attic. We then cleared all of the soffit vents from insulation and installed baffles to ensure the air passage was free and clear. The homeowner had someone reroute the bath fan ducts to roof vents to prevent the humid air from being sucked back in through the soffits. We then cleaned all of the roof sheathing and trusses with a mold and mildew stain remover and then applied an antimicrobial solution to the affected areas of the attic to kill the mold. After that we covered all of the can light covers with rockwool for a fire safety precaution and then air sealed the attic floor top/bond plates, wire penetrations and pipe penetrations to stop the air leaks from the conditioned space below. After all the air sealing had been done we then installed 17" or R60 TruSoft cellulose insulation on the attic floor to achieve the highest Energy Star Rating. One of the challenges that we faced during the installation process was the heat inside the attic. It was roughly 90 degrees outside making the inside temp of the attic around 130-140 degrees. Despite the pitch of the roof, we were able to get a sprinkler on the peak of the roof to help lower the inside temperature of the attic. We used a combination of products to achieve our end results. We used, Mold X2 products, DuroVent rafter vents (Baffles), 7/16" OSB for covering the drop soffits, R20 SilverGlo Polystyrene Foam Board, TiteShell Recessed Light Fixture Covers, Firelock ZypFoam, Owens Corning 1/2" Foamboard, All Grip 60 Adhesive, Weather-stripping and TruSoft Cellulose. The Homeowner now has a healthy, clean attic that no longer is contaminated with mold throughout attic. They now are saving on their energy bills now that they have an air sealed attic that is insulated to the highest Energy Star Rating of R60.
