Fallen Insulation

Today's weird call of the day came from a nursing home. The temperature had dropped to 42 degrees in one entire section of the home. So much so that the sprinkler system burst in one area. The original design of this building was unique...the addition was "uniquer." Let me preface this by saying the home was extremely clean and the staff enjoyable. Now that I've said that, the ceiling / insulation design was borderline stupid. No, I take that back. It was STUPID.

The furnace system down the 2 halls was located in the attic area. There was no actual ceiling; just ceiling tiles. So you could literally lift a ceiling tile and gain access to the attic. They had R19 fiberglass stapled to the rafters, so in essence they were heating the "attic". Well, the super-duper staples finally gave way and the insulation fell. The "cold" now permeated downwards and the furnace could not keep up.

What makes this even more humorous is that the attic had a ridge vent, so heat was being lost anyway.

How to repair. Of course, budgets are important - so they want the least expensive treatment to put the insulation back the way it was. This is where plumbing straps are of great use. We proposed (and they accepted) to re-install the fallen insulation (if in good shape) and then run 3 plumbing straps across the rafters so that in the event the insulation would come loose - it wouldn't fall.

We're currently investigating whether we can seal up the ridge vent due to the location of the insulation. More on that later...possibly...