Dave Hoh's Home Comfort & Energy Experts Case Studies: Solve storage and comfort issues
Challenge
This victorian style home in Spring Lake, NJ had little space for storage. The house was build on slab construction, no basement and small closets. The other concern was the type of insulation originally installed. It had a power like loose insulation used 50 years ago, called expanded perilite, which is a mineral. It was used because it is fireproof, but has poor insulation values, is messy, because it s the consistancy of talc power and if you touch it, it goes everywhere and is a respiratory irritant. The challenge is to clean up the attic for better storage, remove the existing insulation and improve comfort and energy efficiency.
Solution
The solution was to remove existing insulation, create a stable storage platform, allow access to the mechanical system for servicing and reinsulate the attic. The customer choose to have a Super Attic installed. This moves the thermal or insulation boundry from the attic flat surface up to the roofline and effectively brings this space inside the thermal envelope. The result is that now the furnace, ac and duct system are inside VS. in a extremely hot and cold attic, the space stays with several degress of the 2nd floor and is suitable for storage. They gained approx 600 sq ft of usable area! The product installed was 4" Silver glo boards with radiant barrier as the first layer with an additional 2" of Thermax board material. The process was to air seal cracks, gaps and holes along the outside wall plates, install the 4" Sliver glo, seal the seams and then install the 2" Thermax with offset seams. The finished look included taping exposed seams with special foil tape. This system creates an indirectly conditioned space and maintains a fully vented roof assembly. When the application is correct, this is one of the best solutions for an attic space.
