True Energy Solutions servicing Ontario County, NY

A few months ago, I was sent for an insulation estimate for a property in Farmington, NY. The estimate was for attic insulation. The estimate she wanted was based on the energy audit she had done already. She was trying to stop her ice damming.

In order to fully inspect her ice damming causes, I had to climb into attic. She told me I was the tenth company to give her an estimate. I found out I was the only person to climb fully into her attic and crawl around. The other nine stood on the step stool and looked around from the hatch. I found numerous issues that the other companies missed, items that were not noticeable without crawling over to them including the bath exhaust fan that had detached from the tubing. This was the first point where she realized she was dealing with a great company. Because of my inspection, she said it would be ok to do an energy audit on her home even though one was already done. She followed me around as I tested and inspected everything that was needed. When I got to running the blower door, she once again was shocked. While the fan was depressurizing the house, I took out my infrared and smoke pencil and began inspecting the whole house. She asked me what I was doing. I replied “figuring out where your hidden problems are.” She told me the other energy auditor recorded the blower door figure then shut down the fan. We found a few more issues including the reason why her front upstairs room was always so cold in the winter; no insulation blocking the front porch attic with the front upstairs room.

She ended up contracting us to do everything I recommended. When I met back with her to run the post work test out, she told me how happy she was that she found us and did not just go with one of the first quotes. It was a good thing she was so picky with who she worked with.

I met with a gentleman that was looking for Indow window inserts in his home in Stanley, NY. He said he is getting condensation on his windows and he wanted the inserts to stop the condensation. Although this would work for his windows, it would send the moisture to other areas of the house potentially causing mold. After talking with him about the science behind air flow and moisture in his home, he agreed to show me around his home.

During the inspection, we made a trip to his crawl space. This was about 4 feet high and spanned the entire length of his home. There was open dirt covered by gravel. The humidity in this area was unbearable. Bingo. I explained to him how the natural air flow of his house (the stack effect) was bringing all of that humidity into his home. Making matters worse was his furnace and ductwork in the same crawl space. With gaps in the ductwork, the moisture was being pushed into his living space. If the Indow inserts stopped the flow of air through his windows, the moisture would still be present and collect in other areas, such as his walls and ceilings, which would create a moldy environment. I put together a proposal to properly seal the crawl space with a CleanSpace liner, rigid foam board insulation on the walls, and spray foam in the rim joist. This would keep the moisture from over-saturating the crawl space, which would also dry out the living space.

Since the work has been done, he has had a much drier and much healthier home. He was very appreciative that I took the time to ask the right questions and diagnose the proper solution instead of just selling him what he thought he wanted. He wants us back next year to tackle his attic.