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My new blog, Tracy DeCarlo's Home Building Lessons is live! For more practical ideas for building your home, click the above link.
Building or Remodeling? Do yourself a favor and increase your knowledge of the construction process and your options. Being informed can have a direct positive effect on the bottom line, the conveniences inside your home, and the future cost of running the home.
The Difference is in the Details: The Homeowner's Planning Guide to Building a Functional Home not only provides hundreds of tips like these, it also provides live links to suppliers and organizations. This photograph-filled e-Guide shows you how to adjust the building sequence to your financial advantage while helping you create a healthy, energy-efficient home that works for your family - inside and out, from the foundation to the rooftop. “With dozens of “how to build
your new home” books available, what could be left out? Plenty, as author DeCarlo shows in her
practical approach to topics often left out, forgotten, or given scant attention. Readers will thank her
for raising subjects to consider in the earliest stages of planning a new home.”
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How to Avoid Potential Disaster from Improperly Installed Attic Spray Foam One of the most energy-saving features you can add to your new home is a sealed, foam-insulated attic. Because the temperature of a spray-foamed attic is only about 10 degrees different from conditioned living space (as opposed to the traditional vented attic reaching around 140 degrees in summer and freezing temperatures in winter), your entire home maintains a more even temperature.
In order for the foam to do its job, it must cover all surfaces at the proper thickness to create air-impermeable status. The thickness varies depending on the foam selected. (For details, see my blog, All Open-Cell Spray Foams are NOT Alike ) When both roof construction and spray-foam installation are done properly, no outside air can infiltrate the attic space. That brings up two questions: (1) How can one tell if the attic spray foam has been installed to the correct thickness and is truly sealing the attic? and (2) Why is this so important? I’ll address the second question first. In order to realize optimum efficiency from HVAC equipment or ductwork contained in a spray-foamed attic, this semi-conditioned space must be sealed completely. A breach in the seal not only reduces efficiency, it creates an opportunity for mold and corrosion to invade the attic area.
Here’s an example of how this test revealed significant problems in the attic of a green home during the final inspection process. The first step in testing the attic seal is to open the attic entrance while the blower door is operating. If the space is properly sealed, no breeze will come out of the hole, since there is no way for air to get into the attic in the first place. In this particular home, the tester was greeted with a blast of attic air. When the builder called the foam insulation company to track down the source of the problem, the company discovered that: (1) A subcontractor who worked on fixing the range-hood ductwork hadn’t bothered to reseal the opening; and (2) The spray foam was not consistently installed at the thickness required to reach air-impermeable status. Can you imagine the problems the homeowner and builder would have encountered had the home not been tested? Even if you’re not building a green home, consider having a blower-door test included as part of the construction process. The potential energy saved and problems avoided can pay for the test many times over. Blower-door tests, which generally cost between $200 and $300, are performed by a certified Home Energy Rater. To find such an individual in your area, go to www.EnergyStar.gov. P.S. There are two kinds of spray foam, closed- and open-cell. One builder incorporated the best of both into the attic of one of his homes and saved money in the process. For the details, see my blog post, Closed- and Open-Cell Foam Attic Insulation Combo: An Option Worth Considering. Remember, as always, The Difference is in the Details! IS THERE A SUBJECT YOU'D LIKE ME TO COVER? Let me know by sending an email to tracy@tracystips.net. WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE? All past issues of this ezine are in the Ezine Archives on our web site. Click here for Ezine Archives ! WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Tracy DeCarlo, author of "The Difference is in the Details" publishes the idea-packed, monthly e-zine "Tracy's Home Building Tips." If you're ready to learn how to plan a more durable, energy-efficient, and easy-to-live-in home, get your FR*EE tips now at www.DetailedSolutions.net.
By working with homeowners to focus on their daily habits and preferences, she helps them create living spaces that support and compliment their lifestyles, while at the same time teaching techniques to manage the bottom line.
I’d love to hear from you:
Tracy DeCarlo, Detailed Solutions, Inc. P.O. Box 161644 Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, United States Phone 407-814-2328 |
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Copyright ©2012 Tracy DeCarlo Detailed Solutions, Inc. |
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A
better-insulated house, with its HVAC equipment and duct systems housed in semi-conditioned attic space, is a much more energy-efficient scenario and a big contributor to energy savings. Because an efficient HVAC system doesn’t have to work as hard, further savings are achieved through the use of a smaller sized (tonnage) air handler, which, in fact, must be reduced accordingly to match the altered environment. 
The
first step in creating a sealed attic is the elimination of all ridge or off-ridge vents and vented soffits. Next, foam insulation is sprayed on the underside of the roof deck to seal every crack and crevice.
The
secret to discovering breaches in the building enclosure of your new home is through a blower-door test. A blower door is not an invasive or expensive device; it’s simply a powerful fan mounted in the frame
of an exterior door. The fan pulls air out of the house, thereby lowering air pressure inside. Outside air, because it’s a higher pressure, then flows back in through all unsealed cracks and openings. The more
leaks, the more airflow required to induce a given pressure difference. Thus, blower doors make it possible to measure the relative “leakiness” of a house.
Tracy
DeCarlo owner of Detailed Solutions, Inc. and One Stop Green Home Certification, has more than fourteen years'
experience in the residential construction industry. As a Home Building Function Analyst,
Certified Green Professional, Green Certifying Agent,
and Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist, Tracy addresses the functional aspects of home
construction, design, and usage, including items such as energy efficiency, disaster mitigation, air quality,
aging in place, green building, plumbing, electrical, lighting, and storage. 
