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This Doswell, VA homeowner reached out to us after noticing issues with their crawl space insulation. Upon inspection we found that the insulation was damaged by moisture and falling away from the floors, there was microbial growth on the floor joists, and signs of moisture infiltration on the liner.
Simply replacing the insulation would mean that the homeowner would incur the same issue in a few years and need to replace the insulation again. We needed to address what was causing the insulation damage. We removed all of the debris and old material, treated the mold and mildew growth with an antimicrobial, installed a CleanSpace Vapor Barrier, air sealed the crawl space, and applied an R-10 of closed-cell spray foam to the foundation walls.
This homeowner contacted us because their "current insulation [was] over-compressed and not doing its job." This is very common in older homes, insulation settles over time and doesn't help keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter. We removed the old ineffective insulation, air sealed the attic, and installed a fresh blanket of blown-in cellulose to help make this home more comfortable year-round.
As part of air sealing and insulating their attic, this home had several recessed lights or "can lights." These lights are a HUGE culprit of conditioned air loss in a home. To air seal these lights while protecting the insulation from the heat the housing can give off, we use rockwool can light covers that are sealed with foam.
While it's often hard to see what dense packing between floors or exterior walls looks like, these photos show how our techs access the floor (or wall) cavities to fill them with cellulose insulation. A hole is made to fit the hose and then our technician packs the floor cavity with insulation. when complete, this makes a big difference in heat transference for the room above the garage, keeping it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
This Midlothian, VA homeowner contacted us because they were noticing odors in their home. Upon inspection of the home, we found that the crawl space had moisture infiltration which led to high relative humidity as well as mildew and mold growth on the floor joists and paper backing of fiberglass insulation. The musty, mildew odors were rising into the home and irritating the homeowners.
We cleaned out the crawl space, treated the mold and mildew growth with an antimicrobial, and began the process of sealing the space. We want to keep as much outside air and moisture out of the crawl space as possible. We achieve this by installing CleanSpace, a heavy-duty crawl space liner that is sealed at all seams, and mechanically fastened and sealed to piers and walls 6-8 inches above outside grade. All vents, the rim and band, and sill plate are all sealed and all penetrations through the foundation wall to the outside are sealed as well. Then we installed closed cell spray foam on the foundation walls leaving a 2-inch viewing strip at the top of the foundation wall for termite inspections. After keeping as much outside moisture and air out of the crawl space as possible, we installed a Sanidry Sedona Dehumidifier to control relative humidity.
This will help to prevent future microbial growth in the crawl space and those musty, mildewy odors from rising into the home.