FAQ
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Home Insulation
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How much can I save by adding blown-in attic insulation?Most houses we inspect have leaky attics! Air (that you pay to heat or cool) flows from inside your home up into the attic through leaks in the structure and around the can lights. Blowing in cellulose insulation will help you save on your utility bills, and you will be more comfortable in your own home, yet you also need to seal the leaky areas first. We always recommend sealing BEFORE having us blow in the insulation so you can save the most money.
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What is spray foam?The closed-cell spray foam we chose to use (rather than open-cell) to help make our client’s home more comfortable and energy efficient is a 2-part foam. As it is sprayed, the two liquid materials, a resin and a catalyst, combine and expand. They fill cracks and crevices so it gets rid of un-insulated voids and helps stop air movement. You want to keep your conditioned air that you paid to condition inside your home!
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What is the best home insulation?Each home is unique, and since we offer a variety of insulation types (e.g., blown-in cellulose, closed-cell spray foam, foam board, fiberglass batting), it is best to have an evaluation to determine what will perform best for your home. Blown-in cellulose and spray foam perform the best. Contact us for a free evaluation to determine why your home is not keeping you comfortable year-round and what the best solution will be!
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What is the best insulation for attics?Blown-in cellulose and closed-cell spray foam are both great solutions that do a MUCH better job than fiberglass that most folks see in their attics. Cellulose and spray foam block the flow of air, while fiberglass just slows it down and really just acts like an air filter. When choosing cellulose, the air leak spots also need to be sealed. Our trained energy consultant will do a thorough evaluation of your attic and show you photos of what is found. Call us or use our online form to set up your free evaluation.
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What is the insulation value of spray in insulation?
Our company uses “closed-cell” spray foam, which has an R-value of R-6.8 per inch.
A client usually has us spray between 2 inches and 4 inches. It seals everything, eliminating all air gaps and stopping air flow, and has a non-conductive property so heat cannot transfer through it like that of fiberglass.
All these properties make it perform far better than any other insulating materials.
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What kind of insulation do I need for my attic?Blown-in cellulose insulation and spray foam insulation are the options that out-perform fiberglass. In an attic, fiberglass just acts like an air filter as the air flows through it. You want a giant thick blanket in your attic to help keep your home more comfortable, and spray foam or cellulose will do this. Our Energy Consultant will evaluate your attic and help you determine the best route for your home.
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Who installs spray foam insulation in Portland, Oregon?Having been in business since 2006, we are your one-stop company for closed-cell spray foam insulation, plus your other options–cellulose, rigid foam board, and fiberglass. Our Energy Consultant will meet with you to discuss what you are looking to achieve, investigate your home or business from attic to crawl space/basement, and show you what was discovered. We then work with you to determine the best solution for your situation and what you want to accomplish.
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How Do You Check if Your Home Is Insulated Properly?Most homes are not well-insulated, even new homes! In your attic: if you can see the wooden floor joists, you definitely need more! Energy Star standards are to be at least 11 inches high of blown-in cellulose. If you have lights cut into the ceiling, do they have a can light cover? If not, air is flowing from your home into the attic. Was the attic floor air-sealed (can you see lines of foam anywhere different pieces come together)? If not, air is flowing from your home into the attic. In your crawl space: Those fiberglass batts you see in there—are they touching the underfloor? If they are hanging down, they are “hammocks for rodents” as they love to nest in fiberglass. Are your floors cold in the winter? You need better insulation.
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How Long Does Home Insulation Last?It depends on what type of insulation. Fiberglass is the least effective insulating material, even though that may be the only one you know from the marketing of it. Fiberglass matts down, absorbs water, and gets used by critters for nesting materials, so it can quickly become mostly useless.
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Is It Worth Insulating an Old House?If you want to be more comfortable in your home, and have lower utility bills, it will be very worth it. Older homes were either not insulated or were insulated at very low levels. Energy used to be cheap!
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Should You Insulate Walls Old House?Because of the way air flows in a house (up from the crawl or basement and out the attic), walls are the last thing we suggest that people insulate. Often when a client properly air seals and insulates their attic, it solves the issue of their old home being uncomfortable to live in.
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What Is the Best Type of Insulation for a Home?Closed-cell spray foam and blown-in cellulose that has been treated with borate and a fire-retardant are the best. You may think fiberglass is king, but it’s just an air filter, not a great insulation material. Even though people still use it, and new construction houses are still using it, don’t use fiberglass. Critters love to nest in it, too.
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Crawl Space
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Can I Encapsulate My Own Crawl Space?We’ve heard about people doing this, and even had one client call us after they had started doing it themselves and realized how difficult it was going to be to do a quality job! If you attempt to do it (buying all the materials and the tools needed, plus the spray foam equipment to spray foam the crawl space cement walls), without the experience and the correct tools, there’s a giant chance it won’t be done correctly. And that means you won’t have the benefit of the encapsulation. Counting your time and the spray foam equipment you will need to get, it likely will cost you more, too.
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Can I Put a Regular Dehumidifier in My Crawl Space?
A dehumidifier specifically designed for a crawl space is what we recommend. It removes up to 100 pints a day of water! Most dehumidifiers for your inside your home can remove only half of that. If you do not remove enough moisture in the air to get it to under 75% relative humidity, mold can grow.
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Can Pipes Freeze in Crawl Space?In general, when the outside air temperature is 20 degrees Fahrenheit or lower, those pipes under your home can freeze. There are different solutions to preventing this, including encapsulating your crawl space.
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Does Encapsulating a Crawl Space Increase Home Value?With the many benefits that come from encapsulating a crawl space, it does make your home more valuable. The indoor air quality is better, your home is less humid in the summer, floors are warmer in the winter, pests have no fiberglass to nest in, and the crawl space is now less likely to grow mold.
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How Common Is Mold in Crawl Space?Mold needs humidity in the air, and something to perch on and use as a food source such as wood beams, and a crawl space gives it both. Dirt crawl spaces tend to be breeding grounds for mold. Any type of mold growing under your home is bad since up to 50% of the air you breathe on the first floor of your home comes from the crawl space.
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How Do I Protect My Crawl Space From Water?Each home is unique and has water coming in from different areas and for different reasons. Your best solution is to start with an evaluation of your crawl space. Solutions to the water include sump pumps, crawl space dehumidifiers, and an encapsulation.
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How Long Does Crawl Space Encapsulation Last?It last much longer than just adding fiberglass batts to the crawlspace; fiberglass will have to be replaced over and over. Our company warrants for 25 years the special liner to be free from holes and tears, and to be free from groundwater on top of the liner (when a complete drainage system is installed).
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Is a Dirt Crawl Space Bad?It’s amazing houses are still built this way, but they are. About half the air you breathe on the first floor of your home comes from the crawl space. A moist crawl space leads to mold growth and wood rot, and then you are breathing in the mold. An encapsulation, or spraying the underfloor with closed-cell spray foam, both help tremendously.
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Who Fixes Water in Crawl Space?At Josh Lowe’s Dr. Energy Saver, removing the current water in a crawl space and then implementing solutions to help prevent it from coming back in is a specialty of ours. Mold can easily grow in a wet crawl space, and then you will start to breathe in the spores as they enter your house. Don’t wait to get this addressed!
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Mold
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How do you get rid of mold?
Mold in the crawl space or attic of your home can develop in a variety of ways. The usual ways are from high humidity in the space, or from water leaking in. This will create perfect breeding grounds for mold.
This hazardous allergen can create ailments so removing mold from your home is critical for the health of your family.
Our Energy Consultant will investigate your home to determine what is happening to cause the mold growth. The first step is to swiftly treat the mold growth and to stop it from growing further. Our company uses Mold-X and Mold-X2, and our energy consultant will work with you to determine which product will be the best choice for your situation.
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How do you kill black mold?Mold spore allergies can damage your health. A large presence of mold and mildew in your crawl space or attic can significantly worsen over time. First, our expert team applies Mold-X or Mold-X2 to neutralize the mold and keep it from spreading. They then also address the issue of the moist air, whether with a dehumidifier under the house, or venting the bathroom fan to the outside. If your home currently has mold or is at risk of developing it, we can help make your house dry, clean, and safe. Call us to set up your free evaluation.
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What is the best way to get rid of mold?You need to determine the reason why mold is growing in your crawl/basement or attic, otherwise it will come back. Mold needs moisture from the air to survive. When humidity levels drop below 60%, mold is not able to thrive. A wet crawl space, or a bathroom vent that dumps into the attic, are the most common issues we see. First, our expert team applies Mold-X or Mold-X2 to neutralize the mold and keep it from spreading. They then also address the issue of the moist air, whether with a dehumidifier under the house, or venting the bathroom fan to the outside. If your home currently has mold or is at risk of developing it, we can help make your house dry, clean, and safe. Call us to set up your free evaluation.
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What kills mold?Severe damage from mold can affect your home and personal property. Mold won’t fix itself. If your home currently has mold or is at risk of developing it, we can help make your house dry, clean, and safe. Let our expert team neutralize the mold with Mold-X or Mold-X2 and then deal with whatever issue is causing the mold to grow in the first place. Call Josh Lowe’s Dr. Energy Saver to set up your free evaluation.
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General
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Why is my house so cold?
There usually will be a variety of reasons why your home is cold, thereby making YOU uncomfortable in your home! The best thing is to get a full evaluation of your home by one of our energy consultants.
We don’t just stick our head into the attic or crawl space and say, “Yep, you need more insulation.” Our energy consultants actually suit up with protective gear and crawl into the attic and/or crawl space to see what is actually going on.
Are there can lights cut into the attic and air is escaping from your living space through there? Are your soffits not insulated?
You may have some insulation in your attic and crawl space, but chances are it’s not doing much other than being an air filter (e.g., fiberglass). Instead of insulating over it, it is better to remove it. Then our insulation crew can cover can lights, seal air leaks, and then re-insulate. We offer blow-in cellulose and spray foam.
Each situation is unique, so since we offer different insulation materials. Contact us to set up your free evaluation to discover how to be comfortable again!
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Does the Oregon building code require insulation in the crawlspace?Western Oregon is in Zone 4, and new construction code here for the floor is a minimum of R-30. For attic insulation, it is R-38 minimum. However, we do recommend insulating your attic to R-60. Walls have a minimum R-value of R-21.
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How much do home windows cost?Windows from our team are made-to-order by Simonton Windows to fit your home. Since each home is unique, and there are different styles to choose from, do contact us to set up a free, no-obligation appointment so we can take measurements and give you a firm proposal on the cost.
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How much fiberglass do I need in the attic?
We advise our clients to NOT use fiberglass! It is just a big air filter (it just slows down air, rather than stopping it) and rodents love to live in it.
You can re-insulate with fiberglass, but you will have to do it over again and again, and it just never performs as well as all the other options you have. We are amazed that new construction houses still choose to use it.
Contact us for a free evaluation to discover what insulation material other than fiberglass will work best for your home and your situation.
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What R-value do I need?
It depends! Is it your attic, your crawl space or basement, your walls? Plus, what are you looking to accomplish?
The higher the R-value, the better the performance will be for the level of insulation to resist heat traveling through it.
In Western Oregon in zone 4, code for new construction says attics should be R-38. We recommend R-60 for a better insulating factor. Unless a wall cavity is really really deep, you would not be able to get that much blown-in cellulose into a wall. Hence why we say “it depends”!
Let us help you determine how much insulation and what type will be best for what you are looking to accomplish. Contact us for a free whole home evaluation.
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Where to buy windows in Eugene, Oregon?Isn’t your window there so you can see outside and to let more light or fresh air inside? Our Simonton Daylight Max window is your solution, offering up to 40% more glass viewing area than any other manufacturer on the market. Contact Josh Lowe’s Dr. Energy Saver to set up a free, no-obligation appointment with one of our window specialists. You will also learn about other features of the Simonton line of windows, from Energy Star ratings, to transferable lifetime warranties to windows that tip in for easier cleaning. Ask about energy rebates on qualified windows.
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Why are my utility bills so high?
Air you pay to heat, or cool, may be quickly leaking out of your house! You want that air to stay in your home, thereby heating or cooling all the items in your home and keeping YOU comfortable.
There are many places where air can leak out. Attic spaces are notorious for leakage, whether it’s where lights from rooms below are cut in to the attic floor, where the roof meets the house, or construction issues. Even if your home is new, it doesn’t mean it was built well.
Sealing leaks and properly insulating your attic can be an amazing solution to reduce your utility bills and make you more comfortable in your home. Contact us to set up your free whole home evaluation.
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