Your Insulation & Basement Finishing Expert in Berkshire County, MA

This homeowner called us out to their home in West Stockbridge, MA to take a look at the issues they were having in their home. They were very concerned with the amount of mold in their home. they had a damp, muggy basement with a lack of insulation and air sealing, which would let in very humid air during the summer, causing mold. Mold can be a great concern for a homeowners health, and safety. This homeowner was also paying a high electrical bill. We knew that we had to help this homeowner become more comfortable, energy efficient and healthy in their home.

Upon arriving to this home, we spoke with the homeowner first to ask them all of their concerns and issues again. After this, we can begin our Dr. Energy Saver Full Home Energy Evaluation. We did a walk through of the home, and finally got to the basement. This home had a ton of mold, and we realized that like most other homes, this basement did not have and air sealing on their rim joist. This was a huge concern, as it should be. If a homeowner is concerned, we are concerned. We sat down with them to go over treatments that would eliminate the issues that have been having in their home. We came up with a plan to eliminate the mold in the basement, and stop it from reoccurring. 

At this point, we knew what we had to do.  We knew that we needed to use our Mold-X  and fog the area where the mold was occurring. This neutralizes all of the mold on contaminated surfaces. Fogging gets the Mold-X into all of the nooks and crannies, to make sure we aren't missing any spots. We needed to air seal this customers rim joist to eliminate their and high heating and cooling bills, and keep that humid air out of the basement. We sprayed our two part spray foam on the rim joist and over the top plates to seal all air leaks from the exterior of the home. This sealed up all of the cracks and gaps that were previously allowing air from hostile outdoor environments to enter the home. Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, this homeowner can now live healthy, comfortably, and energy efficient all year round!

This homeowner called us out to their home because they had a very very cold and drafty home. We conducted out full home energy evaluation in the home and made sure to address any concerns the homeowners had. We noticed that they had little to no insulation in their attic! This can cause cold and hot rooms in different seasons, and can make your heating and cooling bills extremely high. This was a cape cod style construction home, and will usually suffer from little to no insulation in most cases.. Air will leak from the poorly insulated soffits. This will make rooms harder to heat and cool all year round.

We knew what we needed to do to make this home a more comfortable space for this family. We removed any of the old. Fiberglass insulation that was there. We properly bagged and disposed of this material. Then we lay out SilverGlo foam insulation boards on the bottom of the rafters and in knee wall spaces. We make sure to air seal and block any ceiling joists or bays. We then, dense pack TruSoft cellulose insulation with a long hose into the roof slopes. Finally, the ceiling is insulated with TruSoft cellulose insulation. Now these homeowners have cut their bills down, and will be more comfortable in their homes!

The photo you see is during the blocking of one of this homes kneewalls.

This homeowner called us out to their home in Lenox, MA looking to upgrade their insulation in their attic. We conducted our Full Home Energy Evaluation to take a look at the whole home. We noticed that this homeowner's crawlspace was filled with dirt and was damp and completely unusable. It also contained old, fiberglass insulation. This insulation sags away from the floor and cold air can get above it-rendering it useless.  In the winter, cold air is easily able to travel into the house. In the summer, warm and humid air is easily able to leak into the home. This causes relative humidity to increase, causing condensation in the crawlspace. This can be a breeding ground for mold. Since this area is so hard to keep at the temperature desired, as well as it not being accessible for storage, we needed to encapsulate this crawlspace.

We want to make sure that we can take care of these problems, properly, and right the first time. We make sure to plan according to the layout of the home for the encapsulation. First, we have to seal all of the vents without insulated vent covers. This will stop some of the air from the hostile outdoor environment from entering the home. We next install our SilverGlo foam insulation boards on the walls of the crawlspace. We screw the boards into place with long screws and washers. This SilverGlo foam insulation board has a reflective side to it, that makes it a radiant barrier, which slows down the transfer of heat into the home drastically. The next step to this process is to lay down our drainage matting on the floor of the crawlspace. Our TerraBlock floor insulation is then installed directly over the drainage mat. After installing the TerraBlock, we can finally install the heavy duty, thick Cleanspace Crawlspace Encapsulation liner. This is sealed with mechanical fasteners to the wall and spiked to the floor. This results in much warmer floors, lower cost to heat/cool the home, and much lower humidity. Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, this homeowner is living a more comfortable and energy efficient home!

This photo is the finished product.

A customer in Monterey, MA called us to book a Free Home Energy Evaluation for their home.  This homeowner knew that they were looking to insulate their rim joist to reduce the cold floors in their home. We scheduled an appointment over the phone, and sent a Building Science Specialist to their home for the appointment. When our Building Science Specialist got to the home, they reviewed the notes about the homeowners concerns. They sat down with the homeowner to go over these concerns again, and make sure they knew all of the issues the customer was experiencing.

Next, the Home Energy Evaluation is conducted. The Building Science Specialist went through the basement, attic, and crawlspaces to evaluate the areas, and find some solutions for this concerned homeowner. We knew that this homeowner wanted to insulate their rim joist to reduce cold floors, but they did have more room for energy savings. We proposed to the homeowner to remove their old, nasty fiberglass insulation and replace it with some air sealing and our cellulose insulation. When the homeowner agreed to take care of these concerns all together we got them on our production calendar. We went over the plan with our Production team, and sent them to work with all of the materials needed. After the work was done, this homeowner is saving on energy bills, and living more comfortable and energy efficient in their home! Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions!!

This homeowner called us out to their home to help make their home more energy efficient. They were having issues with drafty rooms. We conducted our Full Home Energy Evaluation to see how their home was operating. First we sit down and go over their main concerns, and then we do our walk-through with the homeowner, and then we sit with the homeowner again to go over out findings. We noticed one big thing was that they had little to no insulation in their attic. They had leftover fiberglass insulation in their attic from a long time ago, that was inefficient and not doing them any good, it was especially not helping their issues. We set up our Production team with all of the information and materials they needed, and they got to work. They first remove all of the old insulation, properly bag it and dispose of it. Then we air seal and insulate the attic, and kneewalls of the home to ensure more comfortable, consistent temperatures rooms throughout the home. Once we have done this, this homeowner has witnessed more comfortable temperatures, lower energy bills, and no more drafty rooms!

Below is a photo of finished blown in insulation of the attic!

This homeowner in Housatonic, MA called us out to their home to give them an estimate on how much it would cost to insulate their newly build mudroom. We sent out our Building Science Specialist to their home to evaluate the mudroom in regards to air sealing and insulation. In this new construction there was no insulation present at all, so we proposed to have the walls insulated with dense packed cellulose insulation. We round up our production team to go over the plan, and get to work. We first need to staple our Insulweb mesh to the wall framing. Next, we make small holes and stick our insulating hose into the holes and start dense packing. Making sure to completely cover every square inch of the cavity, then moving on to the next one. We do this until every wall has been fully dense packed, and can now move on to the attic area of the mudroom! Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, this mud room is one step closer to optimum energy efficiency and comfort!

This homeowner came to us about issues with moisture in their stone foundation crawlspace which led into the basement. Vented stone crawlspaces allow moisture to get in and condense on everything from the floor joist to the ducts, allowing wood to rot and pests to thrive. If left unchecked, mold that forms as a result of this elevated moisture can work its way up into the home, putting you and your loved ones at risk for health complications. These vents also allow cold air to get into the crawlspace and move up through to the floor in rooms above the crawlspace, making your home harder to heat in those spots.

We started off with sealing the vents and other leaks to the outside to stop more moisture and cold air from making its way in.The walls are covered with our Foamax advanced polyisocyanurate foam insulation panels to insulate the basement and keep the cold out for good. A dimpled drainage matting is installed across the floor to create an airspace and thermal break. TerraBlock floor insulation is installed over that matting and finally, a vapor barrier liner is installed permanently over the dirt floor. This treatment was paired with our SaniDry basement air system to keep this home free of excess moisture with ease.

Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, this homeowner will no longer have to worry about moisture, pests, or cold floors in their home!

These homeowners in Richmond, MA had issues with moisture in their basement and were ready to tackle the problem head on. Basements and crawlspaces are often not considered conditioned space, and so not much effort is put into sealing them from outside. Warm, humid air comes in through vents and the rim joist, which is rarely sealed, and upon coming in contact with the cooler air of the basement, condenses. Once relative humidity reaches over 70%, mold is able to grow, creating a health risk for people and pets in the home.

We sealed off the rim joist with spray foam and sealed any venting to stop humid air from coming in. We also encapsulated the crawlspace to stop moisture from coming up through the ground. To be extra sure that this basement will stay dry, we installed our SaniDry Basement Air System. SaniDry is a high performance, energy efficient dehumidification system made especially for basements and crawlspaces, both spaces cooler than the inside of the home. There are no buckets to empty and the basement will stay safe and dry effortlessly!

Thanks to Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions, these homeowners can be at ease knowing that their home is safe and comfortable!

These Home owners in Pittsfield MA called us out to their home  for a free home energy evaluation. These homeowners were very concerned that with the ice damming occurring in the winter. When we arrived to the home we sat down with the homeowners to get an idea of any other energy efficiency concerns they had. During our walkthrough we noticed there were lots of air leaks in the attic that needed to be sealed. Spaces like can lights, bath fans, and top plates can cause air leakage. Air leakage can result in major heat and air loss, high heating and cooling bills. Having inefficient insulation in the attic can allow for even more air leakage from the home creating ice damming problems and more.

now we can get to work and help these homeowners we send our production team to their home to get started. We first removed all of the old loose  insulation. We make sure to vacuum up all debris in attic and properly dispose of the insulation. Next we air seal any top plates or other areas needed with foam. awe also use can light covers as needed to minimize air leakage. Once the air sealing is complete air will no longer be able to escape from the home into the attic and out, next we blow in our TruSoft Cellulose which fills in any odd shaped voids and gaps. With these treatments it will drastically reduce the amount of heat escaping the home into the attic hitting the roof deck and creating those ice dams.

Now thanks to Dr. Energy Saver By Eco Energy Solutions, this home owner is happier, will be warmer and is living more energy efficient!

In this photo you can see the after of this project.

This Homeowner called Dr. Energy Saver with a rather specific problem and a good general idea of what she needed to have done, based on advice from another contractor.

Problem:

The homeowner rents this property out to tenants and there was a small fire in the home. The damaged area to be insulated/repaired is about 300 sq. ft. The area in question had original, horse hair plaster insulation. 

Dr. Energy Saver Solution:

Our Building Science Specialist evaluated the area to be repaired and concluded that the best way to fix this problem is to Install Closed Cell Spray Foam On Wall, Ceiling, Floor And/or Roof as well as do at least minimal finishing work to the roof area, enough for the Homeowner to complete the finishing touches, such as paint, etc...per the Homeowner's request.

Whether your project is small in scale, or a full blown whole house comfort solution, Dr. Energy Saver by Eco Energy Solutions is here for you every step of the way!

Problem:

This homeowner called us because he saw our T.V. commercials and needed to figure out why the roof above his stairway and crawlspace always seemed significantly warmer than the other areas in home. This problem with warm air being trapped was leading to more significant problems, namely Ice Dams in the winter months.

Solution:

Upon careful evaluation by our Certified Building Science Specialist, he was able to determine that the Knee Wall areas and Roof of his Cape Style home were improperly insulated and would be better suited by installing a Super KneeWall™ Insulation System with SilverGlo™ EPS Foam Board and Radiant Barrier along the roof line and Gable ends, and blocking between floor Joists. We will then properly Dense Pack the adjacent areas with TruSoft™ Cellulose Insulation, Air Sealing the floor with ZypFoam™ and then insulating the Attic Floor with TruSoft™ Cellulose Insulation. 

Bye bye hot spots and more importantly NO MORE ICE DAMS!

Problem:

This homeowner called us because she was having a terrible issue with mold throughout her home and increasingly high energy bills and insufficient heating/cooling. The homeowner asked us to perform a complete Energy Evaluation.

When our Building Science Specialist evaluated the home, he realized that the second floor of the home suffered from inadequate insulation and air was leaking in through the soffits into the knee wall spaces. Our Specialist also discovered that the source of the mold problem was certainly the basement which was not properly air sealed and also had old, weather damaged and inefficient windows that needed replacement.

To solve this problem, we would first need to remove all existing batt insulation and prep for new insulation in the attic area. We would then install our Super KneeWall™ Insulation System with SilverGlo™ on the walls and between floor joists as needed. Next we dense pack the roof, through the soffits with blown-in TruSoft™ Cellulose, air seal the floor with ZypFoam™ and then insulate the attic floor with TruSoft™ Cellulose. For the basement, we would properly air seal by installing Closed-Cell Spray Foam along the perimeter of the rim Joist. We would then remove and replace the inefficient windows with a Premium, Weather-Tight option and install a Premium Weather Resistant and Insulated Exterior Door at the bottom of the hatch steps.  

Problem: 

Homeowner contacted us wanting to save on energy bills. We talked with the homeowner and found out the walls were not insulated.

Solution: 

Our team discussed with the homeowner and planned everything out safely. The team got to work and carefully took off a few rows of siding of the house and drilled a small hole into the wood. We sprayed the insulation in these holes making sure every spot of the side is covered in the TrueSoft Cellulose. We covered up all the holes with new wood to ensure the home it structurally safe. Then finally the team cleaned up everything used in the process and let the homeowner know the job was done.

Problem: 

This home was getting too hot in the summer and the homeowner wanted to fix that. They contacted us to see what we could do to fix the home. We sent an evaluator over to the home and found out it was the attic causing the problems

Solution: 

The Evaluator came up with the best idea to reinsulate the attic with TruSoft cellulose. The home owner Agreed and our Team went right to work. Our team took out all the old insulation and replaced it with a thick layer of the TruSoft cellulose. This home is now well equipped to keep them cool and save money in the hot summer months.

Problem:

Homeowner contacted us about their home and they wanted it to be looked at to see any ways it could be more efficient. We greatly accepted and had an evaluator come out to look at the house to see what the problem was.

Solution: 

The problem was the roof rafter and gable ends were not properly insulated in the attic. We had just the plan for that. We talked it over with the homeowner and they gave us the green light to go. We cut out squares of the SilverGlo foamax boards and covered all the gable ends with them. Our team sealed up all the edges around it with sealant to make sure no air will get through. Now this home is properly insulated.

Do you know where your bathroom circulation fan is blowing air too? 

Problem:

Often plumbers and electrification leave these fans dumping into the attic. All the moisture from your hot shower is sucked up into your attic causing condensation and mold. This homeowner in Pittsfield, MA had this exact problem. This home did not have an air duct to blow the condensation outside.

Solution: 

Dr. Energy Saver can get the moisture out where it's supposed to be safely and that's exactly what we did. Our team came in and ducted the bathroom fan with an insulated duct. This duct connected to the fan leads to the roof. The team then put a vent hood on the roof to which the duct is connected. This duct hood makes the duct look natural from the outside of your roof. This resulted in the homeowner no longer having to deal with condensation and mold in their attic. 

Is your door rotting and not protecting you from the weather and elements?

Problem:

Doors can rot over time especially if you are constantly using them and multiple people are pushing on them every day. This was what was happening with a homeowner out of Adams, MA. This homeowner had dogs and the dogs were constantly jumping and pushing on the door causing the wood to crack and move. This led to rain and other elements getting into the cracks making the woods rot.

Solution:

Our Team came to go inspect it and found out a new door and door framing would be the best possible solution. The team prepped the area making sure nothing else in the area could be harmed when demoing the door and door frame. The team pulled out all the doors and all the trim. When putting in the new trim the team didn't want to new door to rot again anytime soon so we installed an ice and water barrier that prevents rain and ice to ruin the door and door frame. Once the door was shimmed and leveled it was on the house perfectly and the homeowner was happy to not be experiencing any leaks.

Are you experiencing Sagging or bouncy floors over your crawl space?

Structural problems, such as settling columns or sagging beams and floor joists, are common within a crawl space. Settling of columns in a crawl space is most often caused by weak foundation soils. Over time, these soils shift and settle with changes in moisture content and density, causing movement of the columns and the beams above. Sagging beams and floor joists are often the results of improper spacing of existing pier columns, effectively overloading beams and causing them to bend and sag.

We used a SmartJack system on a home in Stockbridge, MA

The SmartJack System Will level and stabilize the existing beams and floor joists in your crawl space. A solid base of engineered fill addresses problems with weak foundations soil by effectively transferring the load to competent strata. The SmartJack is made from high-strength steel components and provides the best opportunity to lift the above floors and walls back to their original level. This job resulted in immediate stabilization of the floors and the floors being level.

Attic insulation in your home can get pretty nasty. Over many years it sits there collecting dirt, dust, pollen, bugs, rodent feces (from mice, squirrels, bats, etc.), bird droppings and nests of all kinds of undesirable things. It's possible that old insulation like this can be moved aside for a proper air sealing job that must be done prior to adding enough TruSoft™ blown cellulose insulation to today's standards - but why not remove the old, nasty insulation from your home and start fresh? Fogarty's Home Services will conduct the unpleasant task of removing the damaged, soiled insulation in your attic. Batt insulation is bagged and then the attic is vacuumed to remove pieces, parts and dust. Loose fill insulation is vacuumed with a giant vacuum located outside with giant filter bags and a very long, fat hose. Result - Now your attic is clean! It's ready for proper air sealing and installation of clean, new, fresh TruSoft™ cellulose insulation or one of our other Dr. Energy Saver strategies to make your home comfortable and energy efficient.

Some homes or additions are designed with floors that have the outside air under them. Other times, a home or addition was originally used as a summer home, "three season room", or barn and was converted to all-season heated space later. When the outside air flows under a floor, it feels very cold and uncomfortable in the winter - especially with ceramic tile, linoleum, or laminate floors. Since the floor is the surface of the room we are in contact with most, it's very important to fix, in order to be comfortable. There are two issues - air leakage through the floor, because heat moves from more to less through solid materials. Even if there is fiberglass batt insulation in the floor, because it sags down away from the sub floor, the same outside air gets over it ("thermal bypass") rendering it useless. Mold on the floor joists and sub floor is also a concern.

SilverGlo™ foam insulation board is installed across the bottom of your floor joists with special long screws and 3" washers. SilverGlo™ is expanded polystyrene foam with graphite infused into the foam, which bumps up the insulation ("R") value by 24% over standard EPS foam. Further, SilverGlo™ has a radiant barrier to reflect heat, so the insulation isn't doing all the work by itself. All seams are sealed. If necessary, a skirt board can be installed around the perimeter of the insulation so the edge is not visible. The skirt board may require painting after we are complete. Results - much warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, quieter home, lower fuel and electric bills.

The old thinking in crawl space construction was to vent the crawl space and create the thermal boundary (insulation layer) at the crawl space ceiling. It doesn't work. Insulation is pulled by gravity away from the sub floor you're supposed to be insulating. The same cold air under the insulation flows into the space on top of it - rendering the insulation useless. As the insulation gets heavier with moisture content, it falls away from the sub floor even more and can even fall to the floor. Fiberglass batt insulation has paper facing and organic material in the resin used to set the fibers into a batt - both are mold food. Fogarty's Home Services will remove existing fiberglass batts from your crawl space. It's not fun laying on your back in a tight (dirt) crawl space. Insulation has hostile fibers when it is disturbed. The insulation is very bulky and takes up a tremendous amount of space in trucks, and our dumpsters which must be emptied. But, it's necessary to have a healthy home in the end. 

Millions of homes were built with vented dirt crawl spaces. Now all building scientists agree - that was a big mistake. Now building codes are changing. In the winter, vents let cold air directly into our homes. Floor insulation sags away from the sub floor and the cold air gets above it - rendering the insulation useless. In the summer, the vents let warm, humid air, which is cooled by the subterranean crawl space. This caused the relative humidity to go way up and condensation to form all over the crawl space surfaces including floor joists and ducts. Mold grows and wood rots, while insects and other pests flourish. Musty odors can be noticed upstairs as mold spores travel upwards into the living space. Eventually, rotted floor joists must be replaced and mold must be remediated. An unending stream of water vapor comes up from the ground adding to the moisture load in the crawl space and house. The damp air is harder to heat and cool. Results - condensation, mold, rot, pests and odors, cold floors, drafts, uncomfortable home, higher fuel and electric bills. Your vents are sealed up, and a dimpled, plastic drainage matting is installed on the floor to create a space and thermal break. Then TerraBlock™ foam floor insulation is installed over the drainage matting across the entire floor. A heavy-duty 20 mil thick GoldSeal™ liner is installed across the floor over the drainage matting and up the walls, sealed with mechanical fasteners to the walls and spiked to the floor. Finally, closed cell spray foam is installed from the bottom of the walls, over the sill plate, and to the top of the rim joist. Results - much lower humidity, much warmer floors upstairs, less drafts, more comfortable house, lower fuel and electric bills.

The building code requires that no combustible materials, including wood framing and insulation, be within 2" of a masonry chimney. this has left millions of homes with an airspace from the basement or crawl space right to the attic. Air that you paid to heat is continually leaking out of your home to the vented attic where it is lost. Results - a more drafty, uncomfortable home that's harder to heat, higher fuel and electric bills. First, the space between the wood framing and masonry is flashed with metal and then sealed airtight with special high-temperature fire caulk. Then, completely fireproof "Rock Wool" insulation panels are installed around the chimney so that TruSoft™ cellulose insulation may be blown against the chimney. In some cases, unfaced fiberglass batts may be used instead of Rock Wool panels. "Chimney Wrap" leaves no gaps in the insulation around your chimney, and seals one of the biggest air leaks in your home. Results - Lower house air leakage, less heat loss, home is more comfortable and easier to heat, lower fuel bills.

When it comes to making homes more comfortable, stopping air leakage at the top of the house is the #1 priority. Outside air leaking in at the bottom of your home only happens because warm air leaked out of the top. Can lights are holes in the ceiling. Air leaks between the fixture itself because of the many holes and seams in it. To make matters worse, when the light is on, incandescent and halogen bulbs burn at 380°F and this hot air rises faster and causes the can light to leak faster. Most can lights are not rated to have insulation against them because of the fire hazard when these fixtures get hot. And gaps in attic insulation cause heat loss in addition to the can light air leakage problem. Results - more drafts/colder rooms downstairs, higher overall home air leakage rate, higher heating and cooling (fuel and electric) bills. Dr. Energy Saver's TiteShell™ can light covers are installed over your can lights, fitted around wires and fixture struts, and sealed air tight with expanding foam. TiteShell™ covers are safe from the fire hazards of hot bulbs and fixtures. Once TiteShells™ are installed, TruSoft™ insulation can be blown into the attic against and over them, eliminating costly gaps in insulation and adding R-value. For the most savings, have Fogarty's Home Services change the bulbs in your can lights (optional). Incandescent or halogen bulbs (65-100 watts) burning at 380°F should be changed to compact florescent bulbs (CFL's) at 13-20 watts burning at 170°F or LED bulbs (best) at 2-18 watts burning at only 135°F. Every incandescent or halogen bulb is a little 380°F heather - replacing them makes the house easier to cool in the summer! Results - less drafts, more comfortable rooms (including downstairs), a tighter, more energy efficient house, lower heating and cooling (fuel and electric) bills, and an easier house to heat and cool.

Vented attics are hostile places (-30°F in the winter and 125°F in the summer). They are very bad places to store things, and the worst place to locate ducts because they are the extreme opposite temperature as the air in the ducts that you paid to heat or cool. The attic floor (your ceilings), allow air from inside the house to leak into attic where it is lost. For each cubic foot of air that leaks out, a cubic foot of air from the outside enters the bottom of the house, making your lower levels cold and drafty. Heat from the house in the attic melts snow on the roof where it refreezes at the eaves causing destructive ice damming. In the summer, the sun heats your roof to 160°F, which radiates to the attic and then to your ceilings and rooms. Results - major heat loss to the attic from the house and ducts in the winter, heat gain in the summer, uncomfortable rooms, more drafts upstairs and downstairs, higher fuel/electric bills. SilverGlo™ EPS foam insulation board with graphite is installed on the underside of the roof deck. The graphite gives it superior R-value and a foil face on both sides reflects heat out in summer and back in during winter. The roof is still vented, kept cold in winter to prevent ice damming. In summer, excess heat is vented out. No harsh chemicals are sprayed in your home, like spray foam. The attic is now part of the conditioned space in the home, and ducts in the attic are no longer in a hostile environment. The attic is clean, less dusty and suitable for storage. Now the attic can even be finished! Results - the home is less drafty, warmer in winter and cooler in summer, lower energy bills, and less dust.  

Open metal window wells let leaves and debris collect in them, blocking light to your basement. Rain gets in, and water from over flooding gutters cascades into your window wells. Weeds can grow in your window wells since they have no bottom, and mud splashes up against your window glass. And, let's face it - they are ugly! Results - Constant maintenance, far less natural light to your basement, and they are ugly! The SunHouse™ window enclosure is a bright color and has a bottom to reflect much more light into your basement. The bottom prevents weeds from growing and mud doesn't splash against your windows. SunHouses™ have a sturdy matching clear cover to keep rain and leaves out*, and it keeps the wind from blowing against your windows. *While a SunHouse™ keeps most water out, it cannot warrant against a window/well flooding. A window well drain system will be necessary if that is a problem. 

Your poured concrete basement walls are buried in the cool earth and are perpetually cold - about 17°F cooler than we like the interior of our homes to be. In the winter, the part of the foundation that sticks up above the ground is much colder than that. Heat moves from more to less. The dense concrete has a lot of mass and heat from our basement constantly flows into and through the wall by conduction. You can never heat them up. If you have a furnace, boiler, or water heater in the basement, the heat that comes off this equipment is wasted - lost into the cold concrete, instead of warming the basement and floors above it. In the summer, warm humid air from outside hits your cold basement walls and condensation forms, supporting mold. Results - cold basement, cold floors above the basement, higher fuel bills, more difficult to heat the house. Foam insulation board is installed on your basement walls with Dr. Energy Saver's proprietary Foam-site fasteners. But not just any foam - Polyisocyanurate foam has the flame retardant properties to satisfy building codes to leave it exposed in a basement - unlike expanded or extruded polystyrene foam (EPS, XPS). In addition, the "polyiso" board has a foil facing to reflect heat so the insulation isn't doing all the work by itself. Results - warmer, more comfortable basement, warmer floors above basement, less condensation in the summertime, lower fuel bills, house is easier to heat. 

Sump pump holes are typically open holes in the basement floor with a pump stuck in there. Besides being ugly, the house sucks air up from the hole; air that is cool, and contains moisture, odors, and radon gas. The open sump hole is a safety hazard. If objects fall in, they could clog the pump or switch operation, cause pump failure, and a flood. Results - A more humid basement, greater home air leakage, hazards, and possible floods. The SuperSump® is a well engineered sump system - with all the parts working together. It features a sturdy liner, airtight lid, 1/3 hp cast iron pump which can discharge up to 2,200 gallons per hour, 8 feet high, and a stand to keep the pump out of silt and sediment. A WaterWatch® Alarm System alerts you to pump failure before your basement floor gets wet. Results - A more reliable sump pump, less air leakage from the sump hole, a drier basement, less radon gas and odors, and a much safer and better looking installation!

Many older homes have no insulation in the exterior walls. The problems this causes are obvious. Heat flows from more (inside) to less (outside in winter) right through the walls, and the opposite in summer. Nearly all walls leak air, insulated or not, causing drafts. The cold wall surface cools interior air which then sinks and travels across the floor and up the warmer interior wall, and across the ceiling back to the exterior wall. This is called a “convective loop” and makes rooms feel even draftier. This results in cold, drafty rooms, an uncomfortable home, heating and cooling systems run more and need more service, difficult to keep house at comfortable temperature, higher fuel and electric bills, dry home in winter, more dust/pollen, more humidity in the house in summer when air conditioned.

The Solution: Dense pack walls with ProWool™ Premium Insulation.  Siding is removed temporarily as necessary and 29/16” holes are drilled through the wall sheathing. A fill tube is inserted up (and down) into wall cavities to not only fill, but dense pack the wall cavities. Dense packing is a technique that packs the insulation in very tightly, so tightly that all irregular shaped cavities and crevices in the wall cavities are filled, and air will not penetrate the dense packed ProWool™. It’s remarkable, and something that can’t be achieved with fiberglass - not even close! Dense packed ProWool™ stops air flow through the wall and insulates. ProWool™ Rockwool is fireproof, mold and pest resistant. Holes are plugged and siding is put back. 

Attic hatch pull-down stairs are necessary to access your attic. The problem is that when closed, they leak a LOT of air that you paid to heat from your home to the vented attic where it is lost. All this warm air leaving the top of the house is replaced with cold outside air entering at the lower levels of your home, causing drafts, cold floors and uncomfortable rooms that are hard to heat. In addition to these problems, your pull-down stairs are a big area in your ceiling that is not insulated - and your attic can be 30°F in the winter and a blazing 130°F in the summer! Results - cold, drafty rooms that are hard to heat, high overall home air leakage, and higher energy bills. To fix this uncomfortable problem, Fogarty's Home Services can install an exclusive "David Lewis Hatch Cover™" (named for the engineer who developed it). This hatch cover rests right over your pull-down stairs. It stops air leakage and insulates over the stairs. Made of lightweight SilverGlo™ foam insulation, you just lift it aside to go up into your attic, and set it back in place when you leave. You don't see anything from the finished area of your home. SilverGlo™ foam insulation has graphite infused into the foam which bumps up the insulation value by 24% over standard EPS foam. It also has a radiant barrier (foil) on the flat lid to reflect heat back in during winter and out in the summer, so the insulation isn't doing all the work by itself. Results - a tighter, more comfortable, less drafty home you'll notice, rooms are easier to heat, and lower energy bills.

Since attics are vented, we should think of them thermally as outside in the winter. In summer, because of the sun's radiant heat, they are much worse than outside, reaching 130°F on summer days. Clearly, we need to keep an absolute boundary between our living space and the attic so inside air doesn't move to the attic in the heating season (convection), and heat doesn't pass up through our ceilings in winter (conduction), and down from our ceilings in the hot summer (conduction, radiation). to reduce overall air leakage, the attic is the first priority because warm air rises to the top of the house and finds any and all holes to leak out into the cold vented attic and is lost. Holes, gaps, and joints include between drywall framing at the top of the walls, around pipes, wires, electrical boxes, fixtures, ducts, penetrations, ceiling grilles, and joints in the framing. The only reason cold air leaks in from the outside at the lower levels of the house is that warm air leaked out of the top and created a suction at the bottom. Attics are dramatically under-insulated compared to today's standards. Results - cold, drafter rooms downstairs, colder floors, house is harder to heat and keep comfortable, and higher energy bills. Adding insulation in an attic without sealing all air leaks first should never be done, because you are burying air leaks and making them impossible to seal later - and insulation DOES NOT STOP air leaks. That's why Fogarty's Home Services first carefully air seals the many various points where air from your home leaks up into your attic and is lost. We use expanding foam, boards, caulk, and metal flashing and fire caulk around your masonry or metal chimney as appropriate. If necessary, baffles (air chutes) are installed in each rafter bay to keep soffit vents clear and prepare for insulation. Finally, our premium TruSoft™ cellulose insulation is blown to the optimum R-value (typically R60). TruSoft™ will not burn, get moldy, or attract pests. Blown insulation fills all gaps and odd shaped voids, and by filling over framing members, "thermal bridging" is avoided. Results - a warmer, more comfortable, less drafty house that you'll notice everywhere - even downstairs! House is quieter. Energy bills are lower.

The old thinking in crawl space construction was to vent the crawl space and create the thermal boundary (insulation layer) at the crawl space ceiling. It doesn’t work. Insulation is pulled by gravity away from the sub floor you’re supposed to be insulating. The same cold air under the insulation flows into the space on top of it, rendering the insulation useless. As the insulation gets heavier with moisture content, it falls away from the sub floor even more and can even fall to the floor. Fiberglass batt insulation has paper facing and organic material in the resin used to set the fibers into a batt - both are mold food. The results - mold, smelly insulation that is not providing any insulation value and has sagged or even fallen.

DR. ENERGY SAVER® SOLUTION: Remove Existing Insulation to Clean and Prepare for a Different Solution

Dr. Energy Saver® will remove existing fiberglass batts from your crawl space. It’s not fun laying on your back in a tight (dirt) crawl space. Insulation has hostile fibers when it’s disturbed. The insulation is very bulky and takes up a tremendous amount of space in trucks and our dumpsters which must be emptied. But it’s necessary to have a healthy home in the end. 

The result - now your crawl space is ready to be fixed properly with other Dr. Energy Saver solutions. The thermal boundary will likely be moved to the crawl space walls and vents eliminated. No more nasty fiberglass insulation!

This customer from Pittsfield, MA reached out to us immediately after purchasing his home due to worries he had about the basement. One thing our Home Comfort Specialist noted when he visited this home was a lack of a door near the basement hatch steps. Steps from your basement to the outdoors are convenient, but the (metal) hatch doors that cover them are completely uninsulated and leak lots of air. Cold winter air gets sucked into your home continually in winter. In summer, warm humid air enters the basement and causes condensation on cool floor, wall and duct surfaces. Results - Cold basement, cold floors on first floor, drafts, higher heating fuel costs, condensation in summer, higher electric costs for A/C.

Fogarty's Home Services installed a custom, insulated exterior door for this customer at the bottom of the steps. Proper framing is installed and a new insulated exterior door with weather-stripping and locking knob is installed. Now “inside” the house is inside the door, and “outside” is outside the door, so it doesn’t matter that the hatch door is uninsulated and leaks air. Result - warmer basement and floors over the basement, drier basement in summer, lower fuel and electric costs, less drafts, house easier to heat, more security.

This customer in North Adams, MA called us regarding her basement. Among other issues, this homeowner was worried that there was insufficient insulation in the home -- they had just purchased it, and did not want to run the risk of high energy bills. Upon arriving, the Home Comfort Specialist we sent noticed that the basement lacked insulation, especially in the rim joists. The “rim joist” is the perimeter of the floor framing system along the exterior of the house. The joints and gaps between all the framing members allow for a lot of air leakage into the house. The rim joist is seldom insulated and never air sealed. Basement ceiling insulation, especially fiberglass batts, doesn’t stop the flow of cold air into your home. Combined with the specific house framing they have, this allows warmer air from your basement in the winter to escape right up to the attic and outside, increasing the overall air leakage rate of your home significantly. Results - cold floors, drafty, uncomfortable rooms, cold basement/lower level, higher heating and cooling bills and more condensation in the basement or crawl space in the summer.

Fogarty's Home Services was able to help this customer keep her home comfortable. We developed a plan where we were going to seal and insulate the rim joists with spray foam. In order to do this, wadding is stuffed up into the stud bay cavities to provide a backing for the foam. Then Dr. Energy Savers' two-part expanding foam insulation is sprayed into the rim joist area and over the sill plate. The foam has a superior insulation value of R7 per inch. It’s expanding action fills all gaps, cracks, joints and seals off the stud cavity to block air flow to the attic. Results - warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, your house is easier to heat and costs less to heat, warmer basement, less summertime condensation. Overall air leakage of your home is reduced and heat loss to the attic is reduced dramatically.

This customer in Otis, MA called regarding his worries about his basement. He stated that there were safety concerns in the basement due to a lack of easy ingress/egress between the basement and the outside. He also stated that he would like more natural light in his basement. Our Home Comfort Specialist came over in order to assess the basement. He identified that the homeowner was correct in his assumption that the easiest course of action would be to install a window in the basement. 

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services knew just what to do to help this customer. We first identified the specific spot that the window would need to be. This needs to keep a balance between the structural integrity of the house, the aesthetics of the basement, and the ease of access to the outside. After we identified the spot it should be in, we dug down to where the lower ledge of the window would be. After clearing the dirt, we cut a hole in the wall where the window would go. We then installed a window well on the outside of the window to ensure that the occupants would be able to exit safely. After installing the window well and its cover, we filled the surrounding area back in with dirt. 

This customer can now enjoy his brand new basement window, and can spend time in his space without worrying about how to leave in case there is a fire.

This customer in Clarksburg, MA called Fogarty's Home Services after having a consistent issue with her home that was too hot, no matter how much she ran the A/C. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived, he noted many issues with the insulation, including in the inaccessible kneewalls of the home. The second floor of the home suffered from inadequate insulation, and air leaks from the soffits into poorly insulated kneewall spaces. This results in cold drafty rooms in winter that are harder than necessary to heat, and hot rooms in the summer as roof heat radiates in unchecked. Kneewall spaces are dusty and too cold or hot - unsuitable for clean storage.

Fogarty's Home Services presented a solution to this homeowner. We added a “Super Kneewall™” to her home. This is a kneewall treated with SilverGlo™, dense-packing in the slopes, and finally insulating the flat spaces with TruSoft™ cellulose insulation. First, our SilverGlo™ foam insulation panels are installed on the bottom of the rafters in the kneewall spaces and the ceiling joist bays are blocked and sealed with foam to stop air leakage. Then the roof slopes are dense packed with TruSoft™ cellulose insulation to stop air flow and insulate. Finally, the flat ceiling is insulated with blown-in TruSoft™ cellulose insulation. Result - rooms are comfortable all year and need much less heat and air conditioning. Drafts are eliminated as knee-wall spaces are airtight and clean and suitable for storage. Summer roof heat is far less.

This homeowner in North Adams, MA called us due to issues he was having with moisture in his home. Upon arriving at their home, our Home Comfort Specialist noted that they did not have a sump pump in their basement. Sump pump holes are typically open holes in the basement floor with a pump stuck in there. Besides being ugly, the house sucks air up from the hole; air that is cool, and contains moisture, odors, and radon gas. The open sump hole is a safety hazard. If objects fall in they could clog the pump or switch operation, cause pump failure, and a flood. Results - A more humid basement, greater home air leakage, hazards and possible floods.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services has multiple different sump pump options to choose from. This homeowner was interested in our SuperSump® model. The SuperSump® is a well engineered sump system - with all the parts working together. It features a sturdy liner, airtight lid, 1/3 hp cast iron pump which can discharge up to 2200 gallons per hour, 8 feet high, and a stand to keep the pump out of silt and sediment. A WaterWatch® Alarm System alerts you to pump failure before your basement floor gets wet. Results - a more reliable sump pump, less air leakage from the sump hole, a drier basement, less radon gas and odors, and a much safer and better looking installation!

This homeowner in Lenox, MA called with concerns regarding the insulation in the basement of the home he had recently purchased. Our Home Comfort Specialist arrived to the home and immediately noted that his rim joist in his basement was uninsulated. The “rim joist” is the perimeter of the floor framing system along the exterior of the house. The joints and gaps between all the framing members allow for a lot of air leakage into the house. The rim joist is seldom insulated and never air sealed. Basement ceiling insulation, especially fiberglass batts, doesn’t stop the flow of cold air into your home. Results - cold floors, drafty, uncomfortable rooms, cold basement/lower level, higher heating and cooling bills and more condensation in the basement or crawl space in the summer.

Fogarty's Home Services was able to help this homeowner by installing spray foam in the rim joist. Two part expanding spray foam is installed on rim joist and over sill plate to seal all air leaks from the outside and insulate this important area of your home. Our spray foam has a high insulation value per inch of R7, and because it expands, it seals all cracks and gaps and joints where air from the outside enters your home. Results - warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, your house is easier to heat and costs less to heat, less summertime condensation on cold basement surfaces.

This homeowner in Lee, MA called us with concerns about the mold in his basement's insulation. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived, he noticed that this homeowner had very moist fiberglass insulation that had mold on it. Fiberglass batt insulation has paper facing and organic material in the resin used to set the fibers into a batt - both are mold food. When insulation gets moist and moldy, it is at risk for sagging or falling down, which leaves basements uninsulated and unhealthy. Results - mold, smelly insulation that is not providing any insulation value and has sagged or even fallen.

Our team at Fogarty's Home Services decided that the best first step was to remove the insulation. We pulled down the fiberglass insulation, packing it into bags and disposing of it properly. We made sure to grab every remaining piece of it in order to prepare for the next step -- re-insulation of the basement using spray foam. 

This homeowner in Windsor, MA called us because he was concerned about the humidity levels in his crawlspace. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived at the home, we noticed immediately why he was concerned. High humidity in your crawl space is caused by a number of important conditions that must be addressed such as open vents, leaking groundwater and dirt floors - all which must be fixed otherwise. High humidity causes many problems in your home such as mold (which grows at Relative Humidities [RH] above 75%), rot (which happens above 90% RH) odors, airborne mold spores that aggravate allergies and asthma, increased pests and insects such as termites, and higher air conditioning and heating costs. Since air rises up from the crawl space to the living space, if the crawl space is humid and smelly, so is the upstairs because of it. Once air and water leaks in your crawl space are fixed and the soil is isolated from the earth, an additional measure is needed to ensure the relative humidity stays low at all times, in all seasons. Result - cold floors above, condensation, mold, rot, odors, drafty, uncomfortable home, higher fuel and electric bills.

Fogarty's Home Services was able to propose the best solution for this customer. The SaniDry™ Sedona crawl space air system is a powerful but energy efficient dehumidification and air filtration system in one unit. It’s made specifically for the cooler temperatures found in below grade crawl spaces. Able to remove an incredible 100 pints of water per day and using only 5.9 amps of electricity, the SaniDry™ Sedona drains automatically to a sump or the outside with a condensate pump. It has a powerful 310 cfm blower to circulate the dry air completely around to dry building materials and contents. Mold doesn’t have a chance! An automatic control is easy - set it to 55% RH and forget it - the SaniDry™ Sedona does the rest! And there’s no buckets to empty! Results - Low Relative Humidity, mold stops growing, odors are reduced, crawl space is suitable for storage, lower air conditioning cost, upstairs is dryer.

This homeowner in North Adams, MA called us when he found out that he had a lot of mold in his attic. One of the biggest reasons why he was experiencing this level of moisture and mold was due to the fact that his vent for his bathroom fan was emptying out into his attic. Bathrooms have lots of destructive moisture when the shower is running. That’s why bathrooms have fans to get the moisture out. But out to where? Often plumbers and electricians leave these fans dumping into the attic. But when warm humid air hits cold attic surfaces - it condenses into water. Results - Mold all over your roof deck, rafters, ceiling joists - and even rot.

This was a fairly easy solution for this customer. Our team was able to redirect the moisture to outside. The bath fan was ducted with insulated duct work outside through the roof with a proper vent hood. Result - Bath fan no longer feeds moisture to mold in your attic, and mold and rot from this source stop.

This homeowner in Pittsfield, MA called us looking for new insulation. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived in the home, he noticed a large amount of mold in the homeowner's basement. This was caused in part by the insufficient insulation the homeowner had in that basement. High relative humidity in a basement will cause mold to grow on the surfaces of walls, floors, insulation, and everywhere else. Spores are the airborn seeds of mold, which are produced when the mold is growing and active. These spores float on airstreams up from the basement into the floors of the home, and people with sensitivities can react to them. When we fix a basement properly, it will dry out enough so mold will not continue to grow. But what can be done to treat and eliminate the mold that’s already there?

Mold-X2 Cleaner effectively eliminates mold and mildew stains on contact. It is non-abrasive and non-flammable, and is sprayed on effected areas. There is a temporary odor from the product, so we recommend that homeowners leave the house for a few hours, depending on how well the space can be ventilated. Once Mold-X2 Cleaner is applied, mold disappears instantly, leaving wood surface looking nearly new. Mold-X2 Botanical, a plant-based disinfectant with a pleasant, temporary scent, is sprayed or fogged on surfaces, which prevents mold from growing back. Now the basement is ready for other solutions. Results – The mold is eliminated, with no odors or potential for wood rot. Your basement is now ready for a permanent repair to keep humidity low.

This homeowner in Pittsfield, MA called us when he noticed he needed better insulation in his home. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived, he noted there was an exterior door that was not properly insulated. With an unsealed door, cold winter air gets sucked into your home continually in winter. In summer, warm humid air enters the basement and causes condensation on cool floor, wall and duct surfaces. Results - Cold basement, cold floors on first floor, drafts, higher heating fuel costs, condensation in summer, higher electric costs for A/C.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services was able to help this customer. We installed a custom exterior door for this homeowner. Proper framing is installed and a new insulated exterior door with weather-stripping and locking knob is installed. Now “inside” the house is inside the door, and “outside” is outside the door. Result - warmer basement and floors over the basement, drier basement in summer, lower fuel and electric costs, less drafts, house easier to heat, more security.

This homeowner in Sandisfield, MA called us requesting a comprehensive energy audit in her home. When we arrived at the home, our Home Comfort Specialist noted that she had insufficient attic insulation -- including parts of the attic that were not insulated. This presents an issue -- vented attics are hostile places - 30˚F in winter and 125˚F in the summer. They are very bad places to store things, and the worst place to locate ducts because they are the extreme opposite temperature as the air in the ducts that you paid to heat or cool. The attic floor (your ceilings), allow air from inside the house to leak into the attic where it is lost. For each cubic foot of air that leaks out, a cubic foot of air from the outside enters the bottom of the house, making your lower levels cold and drafty. Heat from the house in the attic melts snow on the roof where it refreezes at the eaves causing destructive ice damming. In the summer, the sun heats your roof to 160˚F, which radiates to the attic and then to your ceilings and rooms. Results - Major heat loss to the attic from house and ducts in winter, and heat gain in summer, uncomfortable rooms, more drafts upstairs and downstairs, higher fuel/electric bills.

Fogarty's Home Services was able to help this homeowner with her insulation problem. We utilized our SuperAttic™ advanced conversion system. SilverGlo™ EPS foam insulation board with graphite is installed on the underside of your roof deck. The graphite gives it superior R-value and a foil face on both sides reflects heat out in summer and back in during winter. The roof is still vented, kept cold in winter to prevent ice damming. In summer, excess heat is vented out. No harsh chemicals are sprayed in your home, like spray foam. The attic is now part of the conditioned space in your home, and ducts in the attic are no longer in a hostile environment. Your attic is clean, less dusty and suitable for storage. You can even finish your attic! Results - Your home is less drafty, warmer in winter and cooler in summer, lower fuel and electric bills, less dust.

This homeowner in Sandisfield, MA called us hoping to get new attic insulation for a home they had recently purchased. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived in the home, he noted that they needed completely new insulation, as their insulation was inefficient. Since attics are vented, we should think of them thermally as outside in the winter. In summer because of the suns radiant heat, they are much worse than outside, reaching 130˚ on summer days. Clearly, we need to keep an absolute boundary between our living space and the attic so inside air doesn’t move to the attic in the heating season (convection), and heat doesn’t pass up through our ceilings in winter (conduction), and down from our ceilings in the hot summer (conduction, radiation). To reduce overall air leakage, the attic is the first priority because warm air rises to the top of the house and finds any and all holes to leak out into the cold vented attic and is lost. Holes, gaps and joints include between drywall and framing at the top of walls, around pipes, wires, electric boxes, fixtures, duct, penetrations, ceiling grilles and joints in framing. And the only reason cold air leaks in from the outside at the lower levels of the house, is that warm air leaked out of the top and created a suction at the bottom. Attics are dramatically under-insulated compared to today’s standards. Result - cold drafty rooms downstairs, colder floors, house is harder to heat and keep comfortable, higher fuel and electric bills.

Fogarty's Home Services provided a very simple solution for this homeowner. Our attic insulation service is our most popular service -- and for good reason. Adding insulation in an attic without sealing all air leaks first should never be done, because you are burying air leaks and making them impossible to seal later - and insulation DOES NOT STOP air leaks. That’s why we first carefully air seal the many various points where air from the home leaks up into the attic and is lost. We use expanding foam, boards, caulk, and metal flashing and fire caulk around any masonry or metal chimney as appropriate. If necessary, baffles (air chutes) are installed in each rafter bay to keep soffit vents clear and prepare for insulation. Finally, our premium TruSoft™ cellulose insulation is blown to the optimum R-value (typically R60). TruSoft™ will not burn, get moldy, or attract pests. Blown insulation fills all gaps and odd shaped voids, and by filling over framing members, “thermal bridging” is avoided. Results - a warmer, more comfortable, less drafty house that you’ll notice everywhere - even downstairs! House is quieter. Fuel and electric bills are lower.

This homeowner in Sandisfield, MA called us when he noticed that there was a huge mold problem in his crawlspace. High relative humidity in a crawl space will cause mold to grow on the surfaces of framing lumber, sub floors, insulation, and everywhere. Spores are the airborne seeds of mold, which are produced when the mold is growing and active. These spores float on airstreams up from the crawl space into the living space, and people with sensitivities can react to them. When we fix a crawl space properly, the crawl space will dry out enough so mold will not continue to grow. But what can be done to treat and eliminate the mold that’s already there?

Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. Mold-X2 Cleaner effectively eliminates mold and mildew stains on contact. It is non-abrasive and non-flammable, and is sprayed on effected areas. There is a temporary odor from the product, so we recommend that homeowners leave the house for a few hours, depending on how well the space can be ventilated. Once Mold-X2 Cleaner is applied, mold disappears instantly, leaving wood surface looking nearly new. Mold-X2 Botanical, a plant-based disinfectant with a pleasant, temporary scent, is sprayed or fogged on surfaces, which prevents mold from growing back. Now your crawl space is ready for other  solutions. Results – The mold is eliminated, with no odors or potential for wood rot. Your crawl space is now ready for a permanent repair to keep humidity low.

This homeowner in Williamstown, MA called us when she noticed that there was moisture damage in her home, and the moisture was "getting trapped". Our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home and noted that she had moisture-damaged fiberglass insulation in her basement. The insulation had been installed in the ceiling of this basement. However, moisture-damaged insulation can provide several problems. For example, when it is very moist, the insulation is pulled by gravity away from the sub floor it is supposed to be insulating. The same cold air under the insulation flows into the space on top of it - rendering the insulation useless. As the insulation gets heavier with moisture content, it falls away from the sub floor even more and can even fall to the floor. Fiberglass batt insulation has paper facing and organic material in the resin used to set the fibers into a batt - both are mold food. Results - mold, smelly insulation that is not providing any insulation value and has sagged or even fallen.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. We will removed the existing insulation from this basement. This is best left to a professional. Insulation has hostile fibers when it’s disturbed. The insulation is very bulky and takes up a tremendous amount of space in trucks and our dumpsters which must be emptied. But it’s necessary to have a healthy home in the end. Result - now the basement is ready to be fixed properly with other solutions. No more nasty fiberglass insulation!

This homeowner in Williamstown, MA called us when she was having issues with her basement's insulation. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived in the home, he noticed that she had a very poorly insulated basement -- fiberglass batts in the ceiling, and nothing on the walls. Basement walls are buried in the cool earth that is about 17˚F cooler than we like our indoor air to be. In the winter the part of the foundation that is above ground is much colder than that. Heat moves from more to less, and flows continually from inside to outside through the perpetually cold wall. Besides allowing heat to flow out by conduction, stone walls let cold outside air to leak in, since homes have lower air pressure at the bottom and suck air in. A stone wall is bumpy and uneven, and flat rigid foam board insulation is difficult to install properly. The sill plate and rim joist above the stone wall are uninsulated and leak air too. Results - cold drafty basement, colder floors above the basement, higher fuel bills, more difficult to heat the house.

Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution to meet this customer's needs. The basement walls, sill plate and rim joist were sprayed with two-part, expanding, closed cell, polyurethane foam insulation an average of 11/2” thick. From the concrete floor all the way up to the sub floor, they now have the best insulation, with the highest R-value per inch, and no air leaks at all! The foam is covered with a white thermal coating. All people and pets had to leave the house for 24 hours to ventilate - but it is well worth it! They will notice a DRAMATIC difference in the temperature and comfort of their basement, the floors above it, and their home in general. The results can be amazing! Results - a much warmer basement! Far less drafts, much warmer floors above the basement, home is more comfortable and easier to heat, lower fuel bills.

This homeowner in Lee, MA called us when he noticed that he had a lot of moisture in his basement. Our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home and noted that the culprit was the lack of sufficient insulation. Basement ceiling insulation, especially fiberglass batts, doesn’t stop the flow of cold air into your home. Instead, you need to insulate the rim joist. The “rim joist” is the perimeter of the floor framing system along the exterior of the house. The joints and gaps between all the framing members allow for a lot of air leakage into the house. The rim joist is seldom insulated and never air sealed. Results - cold floors, drafty, uncomfortable rooms, cold basement/lower level, higher heating and cooling bills and more condensation in the basement or crawl space in the summer.

Fogarty's Home Services had a solution for this customer. We were able to insulate the home using expanding spray foam in the rim joist. Two part expanding spray foam is installed on the rim joist and over the sill plate to seal all air leaks from the outside and insulate this important area of your home. Our spray foam has a high insulation value per inch of R7, and because it expands, it seals all cracks and gaps and joints where air from the outside enters your home. Results - warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, your house is easier to heat and costs less to heat, less summertime condensation on cold basement surfaces.

This homeowner in Cheshire, MA called us when she wanted to have her basement insulation looked at. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived, he noted that the insulation was inefficient and old. The cold air under the insulation flowed into the space on top of it -- making the insulation useless. In addition, the fiberglass batt insulation in the home was mold food -- it has both paper facing and organic material that can exacerbate a mold issue. 

Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. But first, we had to remove the existing fiberglass batts from the basement. The insulation is very bulky and takes up a tremendous amount of space in trucks and our dumpsters which must be emptied. But it’s necessary to have a healthy home in the end. Now, the home is ready for proper insulation! 

This homeowner in Stockbridge, MA called us when he realized that his crawl space had a moisture problem that needed a solution. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived at the home, he noted that there was moisture in the crawlspace as well as damage to the beams due to it. Most crawl spaces were built with dirt floors - and not much care to preventing them from leaking groundwater. As a result many of them do leak. No exterior drainage and no outside waterproofing on the walls leads to heavy rains leaking in. To have a healthy, energy efficient crawl space, standing water must be pumped out. Otherwise the relative humidity will never be under control, and mold, rot and pests will flourish in the space right under the homeowner's feet. As the air makes it’s way up through the home, it will carry moisture, mold spores and odors to the living space. Results - Mud, mold, rot, pests, insects, odors, higher heating and air conditioning costs, uncomfortable home.

Our solution for this homeowner was simple. For crawlspaces like this, we utilize our SmartSump™ crawl space drainage system. The SmartSump™ is a sump pump system designed just for crawl spaces. It features a heavy, specially shaped sump liner to fit in crawl spaces and accept the CleanSpace floor liner, a 1/3 hp cast iron Zoeller pump with automatic float switch, a stand for the pump, and an airtight lid that keeps moisture from evaporating out of the sump hole. The “smart” part is an alarm that sounds in the event of a pump failure OR a plumbing leak (when installed with the CleanSpace™ Crawl Space Encapsulation System) as it drains the plumbing leak water away. A discharge line takes the water safely outside. The drain in the lid has a special check ball to let air down but moisture and odors can’t come up. Result - no water depth accumulation in the crawl space, the crawl space is ready for other solutions needed for complete results.

This homeowner in Pittsfield, MA called us hoping that we would be able to help him with his insulation. He had recently purchased the home that he was now living in, and he was hoping that we would be able to make it more comfortable. This homeowner had an unheated garage with heated rooms above them. There was very little insulation in the garage ceiling -- which means it needed to be insulated. Unfortunately, fiberglass batts leave lots of air space for air to circulate around them, eliminating their R-value. The result is cold, drafty floors upstairs and excess noise from the garage heard upstairs.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. We were able to insulate the garage ceiling with dense-packed TruSoft™ cellulose insulation. The home's siding was removed. Holes were drilled into the rim joist (outer edge of ceiling/floor framing) from the outside, and a very long pipe was inserted into the joist bays all the way to the other side. Cellulose was blown in and dense packed into the floor. This not only compresses existing loose fiberglass batts and adds much insulation value, but the density stops airflow through the floor from air leaks. Results - warmer floors above, more comfort-able rooms, quieter floors upstairs without that hollow sound, and lower heating and air conditioning bills.

This homeowner in North Adams, MA called us originally with concerns about ice damming. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived in the home, he noted several issues with the home's attic and basement insulation. However, he also noticed there was a lot of humidity in the basement, which was causing a mold problem. High humidity causes many problems in a home, such as mold (which grows at Relative Humidities [RH] above 75%), rot (which happens above 90% RH), odors, increased pests and insects such as termites, and higher air conditioning and heating costs. Since air rises up from the basement to the rest of the living space, if the basement is humid and smelly, so is the upstairs because of it. Result - cold floors above, condensation, mold, rot, odors, drafty, uncomfortable home, higher fuel and electric bills.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this homeowner. We were able to install a SaniDry™ Sedona dehumidifier in the basement of the home. The SaniDry™ Sedona air system is a powerful but energy efficient dehumidification and air filtration system in one unit. Able to remove an incredible 100 pints of water per day and using only 5.9 amps of electricity, the SaniDry™ Sedona drains automatically to a sump or the outside with a condensate pump. It has a powerful 310 cfm blower to circulate the dry air completely around to dry building materials and contents. Mold doesn’t have a chance! An automatic control is easy - set it to 55% RH and forget it - the SaniDry™ Sedona does the rest! And there’s no buckets to empty! Results - Low Relative Humidity, mold stops growing, odors are reduced, basement is suitable for storage, lower air conditioning cost, upstairs is dryer.

This homeowner in Sheffield, MA called us when his basement started having moisture issues. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived in the home, he noted that the home had an inadequate sump pump already in place. Sump pumps are critically important in a home - it prevents major flooding issues. A single sump pump will fail one day due to mechanical failure, a power outage, a circuit breaker tripping, or it may not be able to keep up with the volume of water in a heavy storm. Results -- A flooded basement, mess, property damage, and mold.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. We installed a TripleSafe™ sump pump system into the home. The TripleSafe™ has 3 pumps to protect from flooding. The first pump is a 1/3 hp, cast iron Zoeller pump that can pump up to 2,200 gallons per hour, 8 feet high. Should the first pump fail or not be able to keep up with the temporary heavy flow of water, a 1/2 hp AC back up pump on a separate discharge line can pump 3,900 gallons of water per hour. If the power fails, then a third, battery operated "UltraSump" pump automatically pumps up to 12,000 gallons of water out of the basement. An airtight lid keeps moisture, odors, and radon gas out of the basement. Results - the homeowner has peace of mind knowing they have both AC and DC powered back up pumps to keep their basement dry.

This homeowner in Lenox, MA called us requesting an evaluation of her crawlspace insulation. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived at the home, he noticed that the crawlspace was very, very humid. High humidity in a crawl space is caused by a number of important conditions that must be addressed such as open vents, leaking groundwater and dirt floors - all which must be fixed otherwise. High humidity causes many problems in a home such as mold (which grows at Relative Humidities [RH] above 75%), rot (which happens above 90% RH) odors, airborne mold spores that aggravate allergies and asthma, increased pests and insects such as termites, and higher air conditioning and heating costs. Since air rises up from the crawl space to the living space, if the crawl space is humid and smelly, so is the upstairs because of it. Once air and water leaks in a crawl space are fixed and the soil is isolated from the earth, an additional measure is needed to ensure the relative humidity stays low at all times, in all seasons. Result - cold floors above, condensation, mold, rot, odors, drafty, uncomfortable home, higher fuel and electric bills.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. The SaniDry™ Sedona crawl space air system is a powerful but energy efficient dehumidification and air filtration system in one unit. It’s made specifically for the cooler temperatures found in below grade crawl spaces. Able to remove an incredible 100 pints of water per day and using only 5.9 amps of electricity, the SaniDry™ Sedona drains automatically to a sump or the outside with a condensate pump. It has a powerful 310 cfm blower to circulate the dry air completely around to dry building materials and contents. Mold doesn’t have a chance! An automatic control is easy - set it to 55% RH and forget it - the SaniDry™ Sedona does the rest! And there’s no buckets to empty! Results - Low Relative Humidity, mold stops growing, odors are reduced, crawl space is suitable for storage, lower air conditioning cost, upstairs is dryer.

This homeowner in Pittsfield, MA called us when he noticed that his basement was damp and moldy. His main concerns given to the Home Comfort Specialist were that he wanted to lower the humidity and prevent the mold from returning. High humidity causes many problems in a home such as mold (which grows at Relative Humidities [RH] above 75%), rot (which happens above 90% RH) odors, airborne mold spores that aggravate allergies and asthma, increased pests and insects such as termites, and higher air conditioning and heating costs. Since air rises up from the basement to the main living space, if the basement is humid and smelly, so is the upstairs because of it. Result - cold floors above, condensation, mold, rot, odors, drafty, uncomfortable home, higher fuel and electric bills.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. We were able to install the SaniDry Sedona dehumidifier in the home. The SaniDry™ Sedona air system is a powerful but energy efficient dehumidification and air filtration system in one unit. Able to remove an incredible 100 pints of water per day and using only 5.9 amps of electricity, the SaniDry™ Sedona drains automatically to a sump or the outside with a condensate pump. It has a powerful 310 cfm blower to circulate the dry air completely around to dry building materials and contents. Mold doesn’t have a chance! An automatic control is easy - set it to 55% RH and forget it - the SaniDry™ Sedona does the rest! And there’s no buckets to empty! Results - Low Relative Humidity, mold stops growing, odors are reduced, basement is suitable for storage, lower air conditioning cost, upstairs is dryer.

This homeowner in Sandisfield, MA called us after purchasing his home. He had gone into the basement and noticed that there was a large mold issue. High relative humidity in a basement will cause mold to grow on the surfaces of framing lumber, sub floors, insulation, and everywhere. Spores are the airborne seeds of mold, which are produced when the mold is growing and active. These spores float on airstreams up from the crawl space into the living space, and people with sensitivities can react to them. When we fix a basement properly, the basement will dry out enough so mold will not continue to grow. But what can be done to treat and eliminate the mold that’s already there?

The answer is simple. Fogarty's Home Services utilizes Mold-X2 Cleaner and Mold-X2 Botanical in order to fight off the mold. Mold-X2 Cleaner effectively eliminates mold and mildew stains on contact. It is non-abrasive and non-flammable, and is sprayed on effected areas. Once Mold-X2 Cleaner is applied, mold disappears instantly, leaving wood surface looking nearly new. Mold-X2 Botanical, a plant-based disinfectant with a pleasant, temporary scent, is sprayed or fogged on surfaces, which prevents mold from growing back. Results – The mold is eliminated, with no odors or potential for wood rot. The basement is now ready for a permanent repair to the issues causing the high humidity. 

This homeowner in Florida, MA called us stating that she had cold floors that she would like remedied. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived at the home, he noted that there was part of the house that had outside air underneath it. Some homes or additions are designed with floors that have the outside air under them. Other times a home or addition was originally used as a summer home or “three season room”, and was converted to all season heated space later. When the outside air flows under a floor it feels very cold and uncomfortable in the winter - especially with ceramic tile, linoleum or laminate floors. Since the floor is the surface of the room we are in contact with most, it’s very important to fix, in order to be comfortable. There are two issues - air leakage through the floor, and conductive heat loss through the floor, because heat moves from more to less through solid materials. Even if there is fiberglass batt insulation in the floor, because it sags down away from the sub floor, the same outside air gets over it (“thermal bypass”) rendering it useless. Mold on the floor joists and sub floor is also a concern. Results - cold floors, drafts, uncomfortable rooms, greater overall home air leakage rate, higher fuel and electric bills.

Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. SilverGlo™ foam insulation board was installed across the bottom of the floor joists with special long screws and 3” washers. SilverGlo™ is expanded polystyrene foam with graphite infused into the foam, which bumps up the insulation (“R”) value by 24% over standard EPS foam. Further, SilverGlo™ has a radiant barrier to reflect heat, so the insulation isn’t doing all the work by itself. All seams are sealed. Result - Much warmer floors, less drafts and more comfortable rooms, quieter home, lower fuel and electric bills.

This homeowner in Stockbridge, MA called us stating he had bad odor coming into his home from his crawl space. Our Home Comfort Specialist came out to find the source of the issue. One of the biggest problems was that there was a large amount of mold in the crawl space caused by a high amount of moisture. High relative humidity in a crawl space will cause mold to grow on the surfaces of framing lumber, sub floors, insulation, and everywhere. Spores are the airborne seeds of mold, which are produced when the mold is growing and active. These spores float on airstreams up from the crawl space into the living space, and people with sensitivities can react to them. When we fix a crawl space properly, the crawl space will dry out enough so mold will not continue to grow. But what can be done to treat and eliminate the mold that’s already there?

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had a perfect solution for this homeowner. We utilized our Mold-X2 cleaner and Mold-X2 botanical treatments for this customer's issues. Mold-X2 Cleaner effectively eliminates mold and mildew stains on contact. It is non-abrasive and non-flammable, and is sprayed on effected areas. Once Mold-X2 Cleaner is applied, mold disappears instantly, leaving wood surface looking nearly new. Mold-X2 Botanical, a plant-based disinfectant with a pleasant, temporary scent, is sprayed or fogged on surfaces, which prevents mold from growing back. Results – The mold is eliminated, with no odors or potential for wood rot. The crawl space is now ready for a permanent repair to keep humidity low.

This homeowner called us when the water in her basement got worse. She said that the basement "has always been wet", but it had gotten worse recently, and she believed there was mold in the home. She had already tried having a sump pump installed and a dehumidifier, but it did not work. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived in the home, he noted that the sump pump they had was very inefficient. A sump pump is a critically important part of a home because it keeps an entire level of the home protected against flooding - which could cause many thousands of dollars in property damage, clean up time and aggravation. A single sump pump will fail one day due to mechanical failure, a power outage, a circuit breaker tripping, or it may not be able to keep up with the volume of water in a heavy storm. Results -- A flooded basement, mess, property damage, and mold -- just what this homeowner was trying to avoid! 

Our solution for this customer was the TripleSafe™ sump pump system. The TripleSafe™ system has 3 pumps to protect from flooding. The first pump is a 1/3 hp, cast iron Zoeller pump that can pump up to 2200 gallons per hour, 8 feet high. Should the first pump fail or not be able to keep up with the temporary heavy flow of water, a 1/2 hp AC back-up pump on a separate discharge line can pump 3900 gallons of water per hour. If the power fails, then a third, battery operated "UltraSump" pump automatically pumps up to 12,000 gallons of water out of the basement! An airtight lid keeps moisture, odors and radon gas out of the basement. The TripleSafe™ system is the highest quality sump pump protection in the world! Results -- the homeowner has peace of mind knowing she has both AC and DC powered back up pumps to keep her basement dry. 

This homeowner in Pittsfield, MA called us after purchasing a home. He believed the insulation was substandard. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived in the home, he noted that the homeowner had insufficient fiberglass batt insulation in his rim joist. The “rim joist” is the perimeter of the floor framing system along the exterior of the house. The joints and gaps between all the framing members allow for a lot of air leakage into the house. The rim joist is seldom insulated and never air sealed. Basement ceiling insulation, especially fiberglass batts, doesn’t stop the flow of cold air into a home. Results - cold floors, drafty, uncomfortable rooms, cold basement/lower level, higher heating and cooling bills and more condensation in the basement in the summer.

Fogarty's had the perfect solution for this customer. Two part expanding spray foam was installed on the rim joist and over the sill plate to seal all air leaks from the outside and insulate this important area of the home. Our spray foam has a high insulation value per inch of R7, and because it expands, it seals all cracks and gaps and joints where air from the outside enters a home. Results - warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, the house is easier to heat and costs less to heat, less summertime condensation on cold basement surfaces.

This homeowner in Lanesborough, MA called us due to the fact that one room in his home was very cold. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived in the home, he noted that the room in question had floors that had open air underneath them. Some homes or additions are designed with floors that have the outside air under them. Other times a home or addition was originally used as a summer home or “three season room”, and was converted to all season heated space later. When the outside air flows under a floor it feels very cold and uncomfortable in the winter. Since the floor is the surface of the room we are in contact with most, it’s very important to fix, in order to be comfortable. There are two issues - air leakage through the floor, and conductive heat loss through the floor, because heat moves from more to less through solid materials. Even if there is fiberglass batt insulation in the floor, because it sags down away from the sub floor, the same outside air gets over it (“thermal bypass”) rendering it useless. Mold on the floor joists and sub floor is also a concern. Results - cold floors, drafts, uncomfortable rooms, greater overall home air leakage rate, higher fuel and electric bills.

Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. SilverGlo™ foam insulation board was installed across the bottom of the floor joists with special long screws and 3” washers. SilverGlo™ is expanded polystyrene foam with graphite infused into the foam, which bumps up the insulation (“R”) value by 24% over standard EPS foam. Further, SilverGlo™ has a radiant barrier to reflect heat, so the insulation isn’t doing all the work by itself. All seams are sealed. Result - Much warmer floors, less drafts and more comfortable rooms, quieter home, lower fuel and electric bills.

This homeowner in Stockbridge, MA called us hoping that we would be able to help him re-insulate the attic in the home he had just purchased. When our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home, he noted that the attic insulation that was currently there was insufficient. Vented attics are hostile places - 30˚F in winter and 125˚F in the summer. They are very bad places to store things, and the worst place to lo-cate ducts because they are the extreme opposite temperature as the air in the ducts that the homeowner paid to heat or cool. The attic floor (aka the ceilings in a home) allows air from inside the house to leak into the attic where it is lost. For each cubic foot of air that leaks out, a cubic foot of air from the outside enters the bottom of the house, making the lower levels cold and drafty. Heat from the house in the attic melts snow on the roof where it refreezes at the eaves causing destructive ice damming. In the summer, the sun heats the roof to 160˚F, which radiates to the attic and then to the ceilings and rooms. Results - Major heat loss to the attic from house and ducts in winter, and heat gain in summer, uncomfortable rooms, more drafts upstairs and downstairs, higher fuel/electric bills.

After discussing with the homeowner, it was clear that a SuperAttic™ attic system was what they needed. SilverGlo™ EPS foam insulation board with graphite was installed on the underside of the roof deck. The graphite gives it superior R-value and a foil face on both sides reflects heat out in summer and back in during winter. The roof is still vented, kept cold in winter to prevent ice damming. In summer, excess heat is vented out. No harsh chemicals are sprayed in the home, like spray foam. The attic is now part of the conditioned space in the home, and ducts in the attic are no longer in a hostile environment. The attic is clean, less dusty and suitable for storage. The homeowner can even finish their attic! Results - The home is less drafty, warmer in winter and cooler in summer, lower fuel and electric bills, less dust.

This homeowner in Stockbridge, MA called us after a home renovation revealed insufficient insulation. Our Home Comfort Specialist arrived to assess the insulation and found that it had been removed anyway during the renovations, leaving it fully uninsulated. The problems this causes are obvious. Heat flows from more (inside) to less (outside in winter) right through the walls, and the opposite in summer. Nearly all walls leak air, insulated or not, causing drafts. The cold wall surface cools interior air which then sinks and travels across the floor and up the warmer interior wall, and across the ceiling back to the exterior wall. This is called a “convective loop” and makes rooms feel even draftier. Result - cold, drafty rooms, uncomfortable home, heating and cooling systems run much more and need more service, difficult to keep house at comfortable temperature, higher fuel and electric bills, dry home in winter, more dust/pollen, more humidity in the house in summer when air conditioned.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. Siding was removed temporarily as necessary and 29/16” holes were drilled through the wall sheathing. A fill tube was inserted up (and down) into wall cavities to not only fill, but dense pack the wall cavities. Dense packing is a technique that packs the insulation in very tightly - so tightly that all irregular shaped cavities and crevices in the wall cavities are filled, and air will not penetrate the dense packed cellulose. It’s remarkable, and something that can’t be achieved with fiberglass - not even close! Dense packed cellulose stops air flow through the wall and insulates. TruSoft™ Cellulose is treated to be highly fire, mold and pest resistant. Holes were plugged and siding was put back. Result - A less drafty, warmer, quieter, more comfortable house, less dust/pollen, house not so dry in winter, lower fuel/electric bills, heating system runs less - less maintenance.

This homeowner in Williamstown, MA called us stating that he had mold in his basement. Our Home Comfort Specialist came out to the home and confirmed that there was mold in the basement. High relative humidity in a basement will cause mold to grow on the surfaces of framing lumber, sub floors, insulation, and everywhere. Spores are the airborne seeds of mold, which are produced when the mold is growing and active. These spores float on airstreams up from the basement into the living space, and people with sensitivities can react to them.

Mold-X2 Cleaner effectively eliminates mold and mildew stains on contact. It is non-abrasive and non-flammable, and is sprayed on effected areas. Once Mold-X2 Cleaner is applied, mold disappears instantly, leaving wood surface looking nearly new. Mold-X2 Botanical, a plant-based disinfectant with a pleasant, temporary scent, is sprayed or fogged on surfaces, which prevents mold from growing back. Now the basement is ready for our other solutions. Results – The mold is eliminated, with no odors or potential for wood rot. The basement is now ready for a permanent repair to keep humidity low.

This homeowner in Lenox, MA called us hoping to get his windows replaced. Old wood basement windows in stone foundation walls are inefficient and make the home cold in the winter. “Clear”, single pane glass lets heat escape by conduction through the cold glass. And old wood windows leak a lot of air because the house has lower air pressure at the bottom, and sucks lots of cold air in from outside. Basement windows are near the ground or even in window wells, where the damp environment causes rot and paint to peel. Rotted sills let outside air and even pests into the home. Results - cold basement, cold floors upstairs, drafts, less comfortable home, more condensation in the basement in the summertime, higher fuel and electric bills.

The old windows and frames were removed. New Everlast™ basement windows were installed. The sliding windows have double pane glass with a special metallic “Low E” coating to reduce heat flow in or out through the glass. The frame and sashes are made completely from vinyl - the perfect material for a window so close to the ground in a damp environment - they will never rust, rot, or need paint. Results - warmer basement, warmer floors above the basement, less drafts, less condensation in summer, lower overall home air leakage, lower fuel and electric bills.

This homeowner in Williamstown, MA called us hoping that we would be able to help her when she was losing a lot of heat. When we arrived, we noticed that she had a humidity and mold problem in the basement. High humidity in a basement is caused by a number of important conditions that must be addressed such as open vents and leaking groundwater - all which must be fixed otherwise. High humidity causes many problems in a home such as mold (which grows at Relative Humidities [RH] above 75%), rot (which happens above 90% RH) odors, airborne mold spores that aggravate allergies and asthma, increased pests and insects such as termites, and higher air conditioning and heating costs. Since air rises up from the basement to the living space, if the basement is humid and smelly, so is the upstairs because of it. Once air and water leaks in a basement are fixed and the soil is isolated from the earth, an additional measure is needed to ensure the relative humidity stays low at all times, in all seasons. Result - cold floors above, condensation, mold, rot, odors, drafty, uncomfortable home, higher fuel and electric bills.

Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this customer. The SaniDry™ Sedona air system is a powerful but energy efficient dehumidification and air filtration system in one unit. Able to remove an incredible 100 pints of water per day and using only 5.9 amps of electricity, the SaniDry™ Sedona drains automatically to a sump or the outside with a condensate pump. It has a powerful 310 cfm blower to circulate the dry air completely around to dry building materials and contents. Mold doesn’t have a chance! An automatic control is easy - set it to 55% RH and forget it - the SaniDry™ Sedona does the rest! And there’s no buckets to empty!Results - Low Relative Humidity, mold stops growing, odors are reduced, basement is suitable for storage, lower air conditioning cost, upstairs is dryer.

This homeowner in North Adams, MA called us hoping to get their basement finished. When our Home Comfort Specialist arrived at the home, he noted that the insulation in the basement was damaged and moldy. As insulation gets older, and exposed to moisture, it is pulled by gravity away from where it is supposed to be insulating. The same cold air under the insulation flows into the space on top of it - rendering the insulation useless. Fiberglass batt insulation has paper facing and organic material in the resin used to set the fibers into a batt - both are mold food. Results - mold, smelly insulation that is not providing any insulation value and has sagged or even fallen.

Before we were able to do anything else in the home, we first had to remove the old insulation. Unfortunately, fiberglass insulation has hostile fibers when it’s disturbed. The insulation is very bulky and takes up a tremendous amount of space in trucks and our dumpsters which must be emptied. But it’s necessary to have a healthy home in the end. Result - now the basement is ready to be fixed properly with our other solutions. No more nasty fiberglass insulation!

This homeowner in Tyringham, MA called us hoping that we would be able to help him insulate the crawlspace in his home. Millions of homes were built with vented dirt crawl spaces. Now all building scientists agree - that was a big mistake. Now building codes are changing. In the winter, vents let cold air directly into our home. Floor insulation sags away from the sub floor and the cold air gets above it - rendering the insulation useless. In the summer the vents let warm humid air in which is cooled by the subterranean crawl space. This caused the relative humidity to go way up and condensation to form all over the crawl space surfaces including floor joists and ducts. Mold grows and wood rots, while insect and other pests flourish. Musty odors can be noticed upstairs as mold spores travel upwards into the living space. Eventually rotted floor joist must be replaced and mold must be remediated. An unending stream of water vapor comes up from the ground adding to the moisture load in the crawl space and house. The damp air is harder to heat and cool. Result - condensation, mold, rot, pests and odors, cold floors, drafts, uncomfortable home, higher fuel and electric bills.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this homeowner. In this solution, the vents and other air leaks to the outside are sealed. Walls are insulated with SilverGlo™ insulation with a reflective radiant barrier face. SilverGlo™ foam has graphite infused into the foam to increase the R-value by 24% over standard foam. A dimpled plastic drainage matting is installed across the floor to create an airspace and thermal break, and TerraBlock™ floor insulation is installed over it. Finally the heavy duty, 20 mil thick CleanSpace™ crawl space encapsulation liner is installed permanently across the dirt floor - sealed with mechanical fasteners to the walls and spiked to the floor. CleanSpace™ features Ultrafresh™ anti-microbial ingredients in the product. Results - much lower humidity, much warmer floors upstairs, less drafts, more comfortable house, lower fuel and electric bills.

This homeowner in West Stockbridge, MA called us hoping that we would be able to help her with the mold in her basement. When our Home Comfort Specialist evaluated the home, he noticed immediately that a big issue in the home was the lack of insulation. It had no insulation - especially the rim joist, where it really needed it. The “rim joist” is the perimeter of the floor framing system along the exterior of the house. The joints and gaps between all the framing members allow for a lot of air leakage into the house. The rim joist is seldom insulated and never air sealed. Results - cold floors, drafty, uncomfortable rooms, cold basement/lower level, higher heating and cooling bills and more condensation in the basement or crawl space in the summer.

We had the perfect solution for this customer. In this solution, two part expanding spray foam is installed on the rim joist and over the sill plate to seal all air leaks from the outside and insulate this important area of the home. Our spray foam has a high insulation value per inch of R7, and because it expands, it seals all cracks and gaps and joints where air from the outside enters the home. Results - warmer floors, less drafts, more comfortable rooms, the house is easier to heat and costs less to heat, less summertime condensation on cold basement surfaces.

This homeowner in Richmond, MA called us because she had a problem with her home's insulation, specifically in her crawl space. This insulation was inefficient and needed replacement, especially as it was very humid in this crawl space. The old thinking in crawl space construction was to vent the crawl space and create the thermal boundary (insulation layer) at the crawl space ceiling. It doesn’t work. Insulation is pulled by gravity away from the sub floor it was supposed to be insulating. The same cold air under the insulation flows into the space on top of it - rendering the insulation useless. As the insulation gets heavier with moisture content, it falls away from the sub floor even more and can even fall to the floor. Fiberglass batt insulation has paper facing and organic material in the resin used to set the fibers into a batt - both are mold food. Results - mold, smelly insulation that is not providing any insulation value and has sagged or even fallen.

Luckily, Fogarty's Home Services had the perfect solution for this homeowner. However, before we could do that, we first had to remove the fiberglass batts from the crawl space. Insulation has hostile fibers when it’s disturbed. The insulation is very bulky and takes up a tremendous amount of space in trucks and our dumpsters which must be emptied. But it’s necessary to have a healthy home in the end. Result - now the crawl space is ready to be fixed properly with other solutions. No more nasty fiberglass insulation!