Air-sealing and insulating project

Owners of a classic brick Colonial in Duluth’s Congdon neighborhood had a spacious, charming third floor bedroom suite full of windows and light. There was one problem: the kids didn’t want to sleep up there because it was too cold.

Better World Builders used its blower door to depressurize the space in question and used a smoke pen to pinpoint air leaks. Pete and Leon found numerous “bypasses” — places where warm air could easily escape to the cold — in crawl spaces, at plumbing and electrical penetrations, between framing and plaster and around chimney brickwork.

A combination of expanding foam sealant, extruded polystyrene foam insulation and caulk plugged the leaks. A second blower door test showed much less air was leaking and allowed pinpointing of remaining trouble spots.

Increased comfort, decreased energy bills and best of all — the kids could sleep in their bedrooms again.