
Vermiculite Insulation Removal: Everything You Need To Know
What is Vermiculite Insulation? Vermiculite insulation is a type of home insulation used until the early 2000s, when it was discovered that the vermiculite insulation
A good deal of heat loss in homes is through air leakage. Sealing Air Leaks is often more cost effective than adding wall insulation.
Meausure Heat Loss in Winter Through Attic Seams and Heat Gain in Summer . Resolve by air sealing the seams of attic.
What is air sealing, and why does my home need it to compliment and work together with insulation? Air leakage is sometimes called infiltration, which is the unintentional or accidental introduction of outside air into a building, typically through cracks in the building envelope and through use of doors for passage. Source BECP Building Energy Code Program.
If the Pressure Barrier / Air Barrier is leaking into the house or out of the house the conditioned space is drafty.
A leaking conditioned space creates unintentional heat escape in winter to the outside and creates the potential for mold growth. When retrofitting existing homes, an air sealed attic floor is the first step to a clean healthy interior. Only then can we focus on active ventilation and additional insulation.
Weatherization or weatherproofing, air sealing, fire-stopping; the goal is clear. Improvements make a house or building resistant to cold weather by adding insulation, weather strips, sealants, or gaskets to seams such as windows, doors, and gaps of dis-similar materials.
Why Attic Air Seal? By Definition : Insulation slows the rate of heat transfer in or out of the house. Typically framing cavities ( space between studs ) are insulated with fiberglass, chemical foam, cellulose or mineral wool insulation to trap air. Air is a very good insulator. Picture the air gap between beverage thermos materials; one layer is to hold the beverage, with an air gap between the outer layer does not have contact with the inner layer creating an incredible resistance to heat escape or heat intrusion.
Loose fill / batt insulation is designed to trap air between layers but it is not a pressure barrier. A good insulation material will trap air, and keep the air still ( such as closed cell spray foam or rigid foam board.)
Attic Air Seal highlights and benefits to existing homes.
1. reduce drafts at the lower levels of the home by stopping heat escape in the winter to the attic
2. reduce heating and cooling bills by eliminating leaks and unintentional air escape from the conditioned space
3. stop the dust ( dead skin and hair ) from clogging the trim covering the gap between the drywall and floor
4. prevent a mold food source ( condensation / evaporation cycle)
5. prevent unintentional air exchanges in the conditioned space
On sidewalls of the home, there may be gaps between framing members.
Why is my Home Drafty Downstairs in Winter?
Existing Insulation Evidence : find a perfect black line corresponding with the seam between the drywall and framing called the bypass. This seam is accompanying the gap between the trim / baseboard / drywall / floor of the living space below. This is a direct result of skin dust and hair which is pulled up through stack effect to the attic from temperature differences between the attic and the living space. The black lines of the photo are not mold ( commonly confused and misdiagnosed) it is skin dust and hair from the living space. The fiberglass insulation does not stop air movement. No loose fill insulation stops air movement.
To verify this process of finding skin dust and hair in the attic, shake out your blanket in the morning with a bright light and notice the dust that fills the air. This dust is pulled between gaps in the room up and out to the attic. This is the same air that leaks and escapes from the heated bedroom resulting in unintentional air exchanges, a drafty lower level, higher bills, mold food in the form of condensation, premature snow melt, icicles, ice dams and more.
What is that black on the yellow fiberglass?
The black is skin dust and hair from the bedrooms and halls seams at the bottom plate of the wall. Air sealing the attic floor is the solution to the problem. Air sealing the attic floor prevents air movement upward to the attic by pressurizing the living space. Air sealing is a simple concept, but performing attic air sealing requires working in difficult / uncomfortable body positions under temperature stress with itchy old fiberglass in contact with unprotected skin.
Lights fixtures, electrical outlets, plumbing, ductwork vents, chimneys all create (swiss-cheese) holes in your bedroom ceiling…These are unintentional breaks in your pressure ( air) barrier.
Any unintentional gap /hole in your ceiling creates air movement, air exchanges, is unintentional thermal transfer. Meaning your home is loosing heat in winter, and gaining heat in summer.
A complete pressure barrier (winter cap) of the homes top floor is essential to preventing heat escape.
The can lights puncture the drywall and create ( open windows ) for heat to push its way through and reach the attic vents and go straight to the exterior.
The can lights box trim have little holes where heat passes through.
This causes you to literally heat the outside in winter with your paid gas from your furnace.
Air Sealing Can Lights can be performed with a few different sealants, drywall, rockwool, mineral wool covers and or course retrofitting existing bulbs with Recessed Lighting Trims that stop air leaks.
DIY Can light covers are challenging in two ways, one is maintaining a true tight seal around the light so it no longer leaks, and the other is accessibility of the can lights.
Green Attic uses drywall to created air tight fireproof boxes around existing can lights to stop air leaks from the conditioned living space. Air sealing the attic floor is the first step in fixing problems around the home created by stack effect from leaking pressure barrier of the conditioned space.
Older can lights require a minimum distance around the light housing to prevent a fire. Lights should be replaced with cooler burning bulbs ( older bulbs run around 200-250 degrees Fahrenheit, while new bulbs run much cooler around 100-125 degress Fahrenheit.
Can light covers are placed over each can light using drywall and one part spray foam around the seams to create a perfect air seal and prevent heat escape in winter to the attic and outside.
Each can light must be properly sealed to prevent heat escape ( heat rising from the conditioned space).
The combination of sealed plumbing, hvac, chimney, bypass, and electrical penetrations with sealed can lights creates a properly sealed attic floor. Now we can focus on fresh air balanced intake and exhaust ( ventilation.)
Can light covers are placed over each existing can light on the top floor of the home which is in direct contact with the attic using drywall and one part spray foam around the seams to create a perfect air seal and prevent heat escape in winter to the attic and outside.
Yes. There are dissimilar materials that may cause unintentional leakage in the basement, and since it is accessible in most homes, it is a priority for us secondary to attic air sealing. Any work you have done inside your home could be less efficient if your basement is not properly sealed. Air sealing is supplemental to insulation. A free energy assessment where we use our thermal cameras to track heat movement will clear up any questions.
While wall insulation may be effective, it is installed between stud cavities, so that does not prevent air movement, air infiltration, and unintentional air leakage around the seams of the framing such as the top plates and bottom plates. Air Sealing is done on framing seams in new construction with energy efficient standards. In existing homes, there are methods to improve the building envelope to prevent drafty homes.
Preventable problems include
Air Sealing leaks around penetrations in the home is the first and most cost effective step to reducing drafty homes.
Draftiness can be measured in air exchanges in the conditioned space.
Keeping the house snug and tight is commonly referred to as weatherproofing your home. This includes blocking drafts around windows, doors, and plugging cracks and gaps created by pipes, hoses, and exhausts.
Once the home is protected from drafty wind pressure from the exterior, you can begin to focus on air quality and air exchange improvements from the interior.
Shielding the home from wind pressure is essential to reducing “cold walls” in winter, air exchanges of heated ( paid for conditioned air.) Even if insulation is between studs, draftiness can still occur from wind pressure forcing cold outside air into the walls of through exterior seams. Once the air is in the walls, it move by path of least resistance to the first available opening such as an outlet or seam where the floor and walls meet.
It is essential to start by sealing the gaps around the outside of the home, this will return your time and material investment many times over.
A costly error is referred to in the real estate industry as ” topping off insulation.” When the home inspector finds mold typically the process. is to treat the mold and not the CAUSE of the mold.
We often find mold growing on the sheathing of well insulated attics, because loose fill fiberglass does not stop air movement or heat escape from the living space. Without air sealing the attic floor, the heat will still rise and meet cold winter air from passive ventilation leaving food for mold growth in the form of warm air turning to condensation. The solution is air seal attic floor, baffles and vapor barrier around attic parameter, proper ventilation, and adequate insulation.
It if vital to include attic air sealing in any attic insulation project to prevent heat loss, mold, condensation and draftiness in the home.
Air Sealing the attic floor with one part spray foam is the first step to a comfortable energy efficient home where draftiness is eliminated by stopping heat escape from the heated living in winter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL63W5nEgAU
AIR SEALING A HOME Overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6aaiRLy64k
THIS OLD HOUSE – Pressurized Coagulation Method New Construction
Air sealing do it yourself video links .
Three types of air exchanges occur within your homes ( conditioned ) space. The first two are the secret to a comfortable home. The this is the secret to a healthy home.
Condensation can lead to mold and mildew problems. In hot, humid climates, moisture can enter into wall cavities through exterior cracks and result in costly damage to framing and insulation. In cold climates, gaps in the interior walls allow moisture from warm indoor air to enter wall cavities and attics. This moisture can condense on cold surfaces and lead to structural damage.
By significantly reducing air leakage, you can reduce or eliminate these problems
A tighter building envelope reduces the amount of unconditioned air, drafts, noise, and moisture that enter your home. Proper air sealing will also minimize temperature differences between rooms. As a result, tight envelopes can maintain a more consistent level of comfort throughout a house.
This is the main reason to air seal your home. A house works a lot like a smoke stack. Hot air rises through the house until it exits in the attic. If you seal off a smoke stack at the top, the bottom, or both, you don’t have a smoke stack. In air-sealing a house we are trying to stop the stack effect as much as we can.
An unzipped winter coat doesn’t work very well because it allows air around your body, which makes you cold. An insulated house can also perform poorly if air can get in. There is not a consensus, but nearly half of the energy leakage in a house can be caused by air leakage – that costs a lot of money!
Air leakage accounts for 25 percent to 40 percent of the energy used for heating and cooling and also reduces the effectiveness of other energy efficiency measures such as increased insulation and high-performance windows. By investing a little more money into the improvement of your home, you will effectively be putting more money back into your pocket for years to come.
Heat Rises – winter heat escape through the seams of the bedrooms and hallways.
Air sealing the attic floor is the solution to the problem. Air sealing the attic floor prevents air movement upward to the attic by pressurizing the living space.
The evidence of heat loss to the attic is here along the trim. Skin dust and hair collect from the living space occupants and is pulled up through the house as heat rises.
Keeping the house snug and tight making it more comfortable includes attic air sealing and exterior weather sealing. A few dollars spent and an afternoon of sealing will pay dividends for years.
Attic insulation can reduce heating bills by up to 50%. Get a free estimate from our team of insulation experts.
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A good deal of heat loss in homes is through air leakage. Sealing Air Leaks is often more cost effective than adding wall insulation.
Heat Rises and escapes to the top of the home out the seams sucking in replacement air ( pascals law).
Replace broken caulk inside and outside around the window frame. Misguided ( maybe well meaning ) advertisements recommend replacing your windows to make your home more comfortable. This is misleading, and cause a waste of good windows, money, time, and energy to replace them instead of simply re-caulking exterior seams, and touching up interior trim doors and windows caulk.
Drafty Home? Already Insulated ? What may be causing drafts and cold floors?
Before buying new windows, consider the dissimilar materials around the windows that may be broken, dried, peeled, exposed, or missing.
Broken caulk around windows can be easily resolved with new caulk. Missing / peeled, dried caulk let in air into the wall cavity and framing and comes out the trim and outlets ( path of least resistance ).
Window caulk is used for window insulation. The main purpose of window caulking is to keep your home better insulated by not allowing any air to slip in our out. Depending on the time of the year, caulking will help you keep your home warm or cool. Some of the materials used for window caulk are polysulfides, silicone, butyl rubber, neoprene, acrylic latex and many more.
Chicago Bungalow Homes and Similar Styles Have Exterior Seams which often go unmaintained and unnoticed.
In order for the ceiling floor or wall insulation to retain heat, the room must not be loosing heat to drafts. Cold air intake from wind effect and stack effect causes immediate heat loss as the furnace warm cozy air loses heat instantaneously to the outside intruder.
Solution : air seal exterior building envelope with appropriate exterior caulk or sealant by a local painter or handyman with the intent of sealing gaps.
Heat Rises and escapes to the top of the home out the seams sucking in replacement air ( pascals law).
Solution : Seal Dissimilar Materials On The Exterior And Dense Pack Wall Cavity With Cellulose Insulation
Cold Floors as a result of leaks from the exterior.
In order for the ceiling floor or wall insulation to retain heat, the room must not be loosing heat to drafts. Cold air intake from wind effect and stack effect causes immediate heat loss as the furnace warm cozy air loses heat instantaneously to the outside intruder.
What is Vermiculite Insulation? Vermiculite insulation is a type of home insulation used until the early 2000s, when it was discovered that the vermiculite insulation
Attic insulation cost per sq ft. Material Comparison R-Value $ cost fiberglass / cellulose/ spray foam Determine cost/value ratio and measure performance? R49 is minimum
Green Attic typically adds 2×6 framing over the top of existing framing ( taking into account the mechanicals, pipes, conduit, and other landmines on the attic floor, a raised platform provides a smooth surface for storage. This method like some of the above methods reduces head clearance and storage space but does not compromise the insulation.
Attic Ventilation Lower ambient temperatures and remove humidity. Keep out pests and control air quality. 5 Types Of Attic Ventilation There are five main types
Basement Insulation requires some extra thought due to the basement / crawl space reputation of dampness due to numerous causes. Explore what to solve and learn before proceeding to insulation.
if your unconditioned attic contains a furnace for heating or cooling system, it is likely loosing a high percentage of its intended heating or cooling delivery temp before it reaches the conditioned room
Eliminate Animal Infestation 1. air seal 2. remove feces 3. disinfect 4 ventilate 5 insulate 6 seal hatch 7 seal exterior 7 Better methods of preventing mice squirrels and raccoons in your attic
Thinking about getting more insulation? Did your roofer or HVAC technician point out inadequate insulation? Did your inspection report recommend insulation. Stop. Read this first. Here are 10 questions to ask your estimator to take control of the process
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