Photo Album: Scuttle Covers and Air Baffles in Leesburg, VA

This attic in Leesburg, Virginia was struggling with some of the consequences of being a poorly insulated home. They had old nasty insulation that was not very effective. There we all sorts of points of leakage from the can lights to the chimney. Watch as Comfenergy addresses these issues by air sealing and insulating this attic making it energy efficient, making the home more comfortable.

The Preexisting Mess

Before starting any project, it is important to clean out what is already there if it is no longer useful. The old insulation that is yellow and white in this photo were removed shortly after the photo was taken.

Air Seal and Insulate

Before we can install thermal insulation, we have to air seal any places that are points of leakage. The photo above is a perfect example (and a bit extreme) of point of leakage. This gaping hole in the attic is allowing you attic to have control over the temperature of your living spaces!

Filling a Hole

This photo is of the hole we were just looking at, but it now has been filled with copper mesh. We use this to fill holes because copper deters any unwanted critters like rodents and bugs. Next we have to seal off this filling and insulate!

Sealing the Cracks

It is finally time to seal up this hole (as well as the rest of the cracks int he attic)! We will use ZypFoam (the orange stuff) to seal and insulate all of the points of potential leakage.

More ZypFoam

This is just another place in which we used ZypFoam to air seal and insulate!

Safety First!

In this photo we are looking at a can light cover! This tan mound is sealing off the can light which is the inverse of recessive lighting in your attic. These become places where conditioned air from lower levels escape up into the attic. These can lights are not only points of leakage but also fire hazards. The special thing about the can light cover we use, TiteShell, is that these patent protected can light covers are fire-proof, making your home safer as well as more comfortable. Note that this is another place in which we use ZypFoam!

Air Baffles

These big black plastic pieces you see are air baffles. Air baffles are a way of helping control the natural airflow in your home with out cutting it off all together. This will keep the conditioned air where you want it, while providing a space for the natural drafts, wind, and provide needed ventilation.

Ready for the Big Guns

Now that we have finally finished air sealing every nook and cranny of this space it is time to install the main thermal insulator- TruSoft blow-in cellulose insulation. The grey fluffy stuff all over the floor is the primary insulator that is going to keep the top floor of your home the temperature you are paying for.

More of the Fluffy Stuff

This is just another shot of the TruSoft insulation.

Adding Value

The second to last step is giving the homeowners a space that actually has value. Though TruSoft is an amazing product that will insulate your attic, it makes it hard to then use that space for anything else, so we can put a deck in your attic. Even though we like to think of decks as creating spaces outside they also can inside. What we did here was dense pack the TruSoft so that we could build a deck over it which is what you can see in this photo.

Decking and Scuttle Covers

This is a great shot of the decking we installed, but it also shows you the scuttle cover! This scuttle cover is insulating and zips open and closed so it can be used as an easy point of access.