Work in the attic: air sealing and insulating the soffits & adding more insulation

This is a job that I did not do myself. I had the work done by an expert to be sure it was done correctly with minimal damage to the exterior.

All work by Randy Vanier (Vanier Construction, Inc. 207-671-7454).

First, the problem: air infiltration into the house through the soffit and escaping from the proper vent (pink vent in the photos below) into the ceiling of the main floor. As shown in the photo below, Randy discovered that we had no insulation in the eaves either. Lots of work is needed to remedy this.

Surprise! No insulation. No wonder it is so cold in here.

To ensure proper air flow, Randy placed a proper vent in the space above that extended from the soffit area to above the insulation in the attic. As shown in the series of photos below, he then cut pieces of XPS foam insulation and used spray foam to hold everything in place and force any air to move through the vent into the attic space (rather than around it).

Test fitting the proper vent and rigid foam insulation.

Here is how the test fit looks from inside (before proper vent)

First step with spray foam behind foam board insulation and all cracks.

Everything spray foamed tight and sealed so air can only go into the attic space via the proper vent

A side view of the work, note this will be covered by the soffit so it is all hidden

Here's how it looks when finished

So that completes the air sealing the soffits. Next Randy added insulation in the eaves.

Randy was finished at this point, so I added some foam board insulation on top of the batts to make an insulated space that should make the bedrooms warmer and less drafty. 

Eave area with the foam board insulation and spray foam.

When budget permits, I may go back and insulate the floor with foam board insulation also. For now, I am calling it quits.

The final step was to add an additional 15" of blown in loose fill insulation to the attic area.

Attic showing additional blown-in loose fill.

I am looking forward to having Erik North back next week to evaluate our home and get the rebate into the State.

More than that, I anticipate we will be much more comfortable this winter while using less oil to heat our home.

Cheers,

Mark

Air Sealing Electrical Outlets on Exterior Walls

Have you ever noticed a cold draft when plugging or unplugging something on a bitter cold morning? I have at my house. This is a sure sign that you need you need to air seal and insulate!

Standard 2x6 construction means an electrical box leaves little room for insulation in exterior walls. As soon as you have a hole in the wall, you have a path for air to move, and you are making a hole in the wall for electrical service.

This is a reasonable job that doesn’t require a lot of money, but it does take some time to do correctly. Each outlet only takes 2-3 minutes, but moving furniture to access all of them adds a lot of time to the job and if done right, you can't see the change.

What you’ll need:

Screwdriver,
Caulk,
Outlet foam insulation,
Damp cloth.

The process is simple, remove faceplate and fit the gasket to the back of the faceplate (trim as needed).Then make a thin line of caulk on the back of the gasket. Place back on wall and press down to get a tight fit. screw down the faceplate and wipe away any excess caulk.

I found this image online:

I am not using the child-proof covers or plug gaskets, but the wall gasket and caulk seem to stop drafts.

Cheers,

Mark

Air Sealing-- top and bottom of the house.

When I started this home efficiency retrofit, I thought I would have trouble hitting the 25% improvement minimum. Now with the heat pump water heater (see photo prior to plumbing hookup), the Real Home Analyzer software is projecting we’ll be at 34%. WOW!

Our new heat pump water heater!

Let’s look at the air sealing component in greater detail. The majority can be done by you. In fact everything you see here I did to remedy the air flow problems in my home (for details see http://wormmainea.blogspot.com/2010/08/home-efficiency-2010-continued-flir.html).

Air Sealing the Attic Access Hatch

All you have to do is add insulation to the top of the access hatch and make a secure seal (gasket) around the lid. In this case, I added 4” of rigid foam insulation to the top (glued to the plywood) and glued the fiberglass pad on top of that. To the surround, I added some self stick gasket. Also, I added some blots and wing nuts to make the attic hatch compress the gasket to make a secure seal. This looks the same from inside my closet (not that it matters much)-- all you can see is the ends of the bolts and wing nuts. See photo of finished product.

Nice and tight-- no more dancing attic hatch on windy days.

 

Air Sealing the Sill Plate

This is a bit trickier, but only because my basement is semi-finished. Often the photos and instructions you see online are homes where there is no impediment to air sealing. In my house I had to remove the floor insulation and cover.

Floor insulation and cover hanging to access the sill plate area.

 With that out of the way, you can see the sill area-- the sill itself is behind that batt of the fiberglass insulation-- remember the fiberglass is not inhibiting air flow, it is only filtering it. Fiberglass insulation is only effective if you have controlled air flow. In my house, I had to work around plumbing & heating pipes, electrical, phone & cable lines-- all of which were typically located in this area. Not a big deal, but it made the job a bit trickier.

Sill area exposed-- note all the utility service lines.

 Now you remove all those batts of insulation-- I dropped mine on the floor while I worked.

Insulation batt that will be replaced after air sealing.

Now we can see the sill plate. It is a little tricky in this photo, but he bottom of this piece of wood is resting on the top of the cement basement wall. The size of these areas (in general-- some are smaller!) is approximately (and a little larger than) 9" x 14.5". 

Sill plate area exposed.

So I cut a bunch of pieces of 1/2" rigid foam board insulation to that size. These fit the holes (mostly) and left a little space for spray foam. The finished job is shown in the next photo. To control airflow I tried to really have the cement area covered with the blue insulation and spray foam.

Air sealing is complete-- HOORAY!

After the spray foam hardens, go back and add the batt of insulation and replace the floor insulation and covering. Now the job is completely finished.

Air Sealing the Chimney Chase (in the basement)

This was easy and really necessary-- we had a noticeable draft here that you could feel with your hand. Because the chase is in a flammable zone, you have to use fireproof caulk and spray foam. It is twice as expensive as regular, but it is easy to work with and you don't need a lot. All you need to do is seal the spaces around the aluminum pieces.

Air sealed chimney chase in basement.

Close up of sealed chimney chase in basement.

 At some point (when the sun is not so strong), I will go up to the attic to seal the top side of the chimney chase the same way.

While you have the basement ceiling pulled open, check that your utility holes are sealed. The oil service holes were not sealed well, so I gently removed the old caulk and sealed them up with spray foam.

Air sealing the oil access holes.

Next weekend I will tackle air sealing the electrical outlets on the first and second floors.

Cheers,

Mark