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This three story townhouse, built in 2007, had 7" fiberglass batts on the attic floor. The R value was approximately R18.
This old insulation was removed to provide a totally clean attic floor. This is done so the attic floor can be air sealed, a crucial step in preventing expensive loss of conditioned air into the attic. In addition, it was necessary to re-route the bathroom fans so they terminated properly on the roof, rather than in the attic.
Once all the prep work was thoroughly completed the crew blew in a 17" blanket of TruSoft™ Cellulose insulation, tripling the R-value for a cozy comfortable R60. Kudos crew! The homeowner was happy with the results.
A lot of the attics we go in require you to walk across joists or unsecure planks of wood to access air handlers, duct work, and attic fans. To the inexperienced individual it can be a dangerous area to walk and climb across. Other attics have entrances and areas that aren’t securely blocked off from insulation. This can cause insulation and dust to spill into unconditioned areas of your finished home.
At Lawson’s we install secure, durable dams and decking. (1) We insulate the deck to make sure we are not sacrificing insulation and (2) we create a safe and secure way to enter the attic and if necessary service your air handler or other equipment located in that area. As an addition we can even expand the decking for extra storage.
Back in 2020, Laswon Home Services were called to address foul odors coming from the crawlspace of this Camden Wyoming, DE home. Our Energy Auditor went into the crawl space and found that it had only a thin layer of black plastic, which had been laid directly onto the dirt floor of the crawlspace. This plastic was not sealed to the edges of the walls, and, in fact, you could actually see the dirt around the edges of the plastic. Ground moisture was evaporating and traveling around, and even through the thin black plastic, ending up raising the relative humidity of the crawlspace air and then condensing on and being absorbed into the wood structures supporting the first floor. The evidence was clear to see: mold was growing all over the wooden floor joists.
Lawson Home Services removed the musty damp insulation, pulled out the ineffective black plastic and installed the Dr. Energy Saver CleanSpace™ Crawlspace Encapsulation System and a Sedona™ SaniDry Crawlspace Dehumidifier.
This homeowner made the wise decision to set up an annual maintenance schedule with Lawson Home Services. A technician now returns annually to perform a number of things, among them inspecting the CleanSpace liner and servicing the Sedona™ SaniDry dehumidifier, and makes sure everything continues to function as good as it did the day it was installed. This home passed the 2023 inspection with flying colors. We'll see them next year.
Sealing the insulation in this wall section was among the many improvements Lawson Home Services did in this Smyrna, DE home.
The problem here is the backside o0f this fiberglass insulation has no air sealing. As a result its ability to insulate is seriously compromised by an effect known as "wind washing" where small air currents drive right through the open fibers and allow transfer of the energy the insulation is intended to block. The solution is to install SilverGlo™ rigid foam insulation over top. The SilverGlo™ provides three levels of comfort and energy protection. First, the air flow is blocked, stopping the wind washing effect. Second, it provides an additional layer of insulation. And third, because it is shiny, it reflects radiant heat off the surface, which is very important when summer temperatures in the attic can reach 150 degrees.
Basement windows that were installed in the past were typically made of metal which rust and seize up, with single pane glass which provided almost no insulation value, and were also very leaky. These poor quality windows resulted in huge energy losses and drove up utility costs.
Lawson Home Services installed new EverLast™ replacement windows in the basement of this Viola, DE home. These beautiful windows are constructed with reinforced vinyl, which do not rust, or seize up. The glass is double-pane which provides insulation. EverLast™ basement windows are available in two types (shown in the "After" photo above), fixed window or sliders that can be opened.
Lawson Home services also installed other energy saving features in the older home. One is an air-tight flue cap which is operated with the damper control. This flue cap stops a lot of heat loss when the fireplace is not in use. A big energy saver.