Fiberglass at Every Level

Today's sales call of the day dealt with a home built in 2002. Should be OK with insulation, right? Wrong.

The clients complained about their open floor plan being cold all over, not in any room or location. They regularly clean and service their furnace (very important). The have weatherstripping on their doors (although not great - better than nothing). So the next logical step was to call HZG out to evaluate.

In the attic there was blown fiberglass everywhere. All penetrations were properly sealed - not big air leakage or bypasses determined. While there APPEARED to be fiberglass everywhere - evaluating every section of the attic revealed that they had an average of R19. Some spots R38, some spots R12. Either way - a boater could get sick from the waves created. The best guess is that the original installed just blew fiberglass in - but didn't concentrate on its height. If you recall from past blogs, height is EXTREMELY important when blowing fiberglass, for it's the air space that gives the R-value. Well, this installed just blew - literally and figuratively.

Our recommendation was to install an additional R19 accumulative - bringing the R12 and up to an R38. Regardless of whether you're installing fiberglass or cellulose, a "calm sea" (no waves in the material) must occur.

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