Home Fire Repair and Remodel

The following photos are images from the job site, highlighting areas that the prior weatherization crews missed -when they were insulating this building.  

The missing insulation in critical areas causes greater energy needs - adding to the carbon footprint of this home.

The Hemp Insulation Solutions to Thermal Bridging

Industrial Hemp Insulation stops thermal bridging!

Fire repair, gut rehab- property was one of the most insulated buildings I've worked on in StLouis (that wasn't mine). The prior so called "energy experts" who installed all the insulation, missed insulting the spots most needed.

In this home's lower floor is where a garage and storage rooms are located. There are two giant heat traps one of which extends thru the home to the roof area- the chimney & The other heat sink is the metal post and beam system that supports the second floor;floor.

Heat and cold transfer thru denser materials faster and more efficiently that a porous substance.

All the second floor boards are supported by this heat sink. This allows the heat and cold a way into the building thru conduction- thermal conductivity.

The homes chimney is also located in the coldest part of the home and thermally conducts all the absorbed heat & cold into the second floor.

To stop the thermal conductivity- building owner should insulate both of these areas and stop the heat or cold from ever reaching the heat sinks. By wrapping the chimney & metal it will never get cold or hot eliminating thermal conductivity.

My suggestion- stop Thermal Bridging with Hemp Insulation! Sustainable-Eco Friendly - Hemp is the Future of Green Buildings. pic.twitter.com/k2m26KjZ7N

— Scotty (@StLHandyMan) December 2, 2016

Thank You for stopping by the Green Blog. If additional information in needed or you have a question let me know by posting a question or comment. Together we can make a difference and create a future that will benefit everyone.

Spray Insulating Foam Deal of the Week

If you have ever wanted to super insulate your home or business against the cold and heat and protect the bank account from the rising costs of our Electricity Rates - Ameren UE and New Gas Rate Hikes - Laclede Gas.  The following offer I received from a couple of my Spray Insulation Dealers is just what your Bank Account needs.

ISOCYANATE PROMOTION While Supplies last we are offering our customers 500 lbs of PMDI Isocyanate forbelow wholesale prices!! Compatible with most all spray foam products, very clean, high quality ISO. YOUR PRICE$ 650.00 Promotions running on 500lb Iso's and system pricing on our EcoGuard 500 and EcoTite 1200.  Let us start helping you save money today! EcoSeal 500 .5 OPEN CELL foam.  18,000 board feet yield, odorless and excellent adhesion. EcoTite 1200 1.2lb open cell spray foam.  R-Value 5.0 per inch. 3.55 perms per inch, has a tensile strength close to closed cell foam. No scraping or scarfing, Odorless products	Syenergy Spray Foam Specialists offers a broad range of innovative solutions to meet all your needs. Whether big or small, our products are made with precision, in accordance with the highest quality standards.  All Syenergy spray foam products are custom blended when you order to insure the highest quality and the freshest material. You can rely on our products to get the job done right! An overview of our Products: Syenergy 500- Renewable Resource Based .5 lb Open Cell Spray Foam Insulation. Passes the NFPA 286 Appendix X with no thermal barrier or intumescent coatings. Read More.... Syenergy Seal 500 - Class one .5 lb Open Cell Spray Foam Insulation with an R value of 3.83 per in. We use low odor catalysts and it will not cause a "blue haze" for installers. Read More.... Syenergy 1200 - Is a Hybrid Open cell foam insulations with a high R value of 5 per inch. Read More.... Syenergy 1800W & 1800 245fa– Class one thermoset 1.7 and 1.8 lb. water blown Closed cell Spray Foam Insulation that has a high r value of 5.5 per inch and contains the highest level of agriculturally based renewable resources content available on the market.Read More….
ECOSAFE Spray Foam Insulation is the newest SPF company to the market. Our goal is to produce the most technologically advanced products at the most affordable price. Homeowners demand the safest, greenest products for their home and ECOSAFE strives to deliver. Our certified contractor program encompasses all areas of the spray foam business, so that every time a contractor installs ECOSAFE products, it is installed to our specifications.	Spec Sheets Syenergy 500 Syenergy Seal 500 Syenergy 1200 Syenergy 1800W & 1800 245fa
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Schedule a Free Green Site Evaluation at the Web Locations Below and Scotts Contracting will respond as fast as humanly possible.

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Web Site: http://stlouisrenewableenergy.com
scottscontracting@gmail.com
Job Site Photo Album 
Green Blog

Fire Proof-Air Tight-Electrical Junction Box Cover

Air Sealing a Ceiling Electrical Junction Box

OCTOBER 28, 2011 BY GREEN BUILDING DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION Service 

CAD Design-Weatherize-Insulate-Fire Block-Electrical Junction Box

CAD Diagram explains how to Build and Air Tight Electrical Junction Box located in most Attics

Sealing Air Leaks

Warm air leaking into your home during the summer and out of your home during the winter and can waste a lot of your energy dollars. One of the quickest dollar-saving tasks you can do is caulk, seal, and weatherstrip all seams, cracks, and openings to the outside.

You can save on your heating and cooling bill by reducing the air leaks in your home.

Fire Proof /Air Tight Electrical Junction Box Cover used in Attics

Hint: Use Fire Rated: 5/8″Fire Rated Drywall or Sheetrock with Fire Proof Caulking to 

Create the Air Tight Seal

Tips for Sealing Air Leaks

re-posted from:http://www.energysavers.gov/tips/insulation_sealing.cfm

How Does the Air Escape?
Air infiltrates into and out of your home through every hole and crack. About one-third of this air infiltrates through openings in your ceilings, walls, and floors.

• First, test your home for air tightness. On a windy day, carefully hold a lit incense stick or a smoke pen next to your windows, doors, electrical boxes, plumbing fixtures, electrical outlets, ceiling fixtures, attic hatches, and other locations where there is a possible air path to the outside. If the smoke stream travels horizontally, you have located an air leak that may need caulking, sealing, or weatherstripping.
• Caulk and weatherstrip doors and windows that leak air.
• Caulk and seal air leaks where plumbing, ducting, or electrical wiring penetrates through walls, floors, ceilings, and soffits over cabinets.
• Install foam gaskets behind outlet and switch plates on walls.
• Look for dirty spots in your insulation, which often indicate holes where air leaks into and out of your house. You can seal the holes with low-expansion spray foam made for this purpose.
• Look for dirty spots on your ceiling paint and carpet, which may indicate air leaks at interior wall/ceiling joints and wall/floor joists. These joints can be caulked.
• Install storm windows over single-pane windows or replace them with more efficient windows, such as double-pane. See Windows on page 18 for more information.
• When the fireplace is not in use, keep the flue damper tightly closed. A chimney is designed specifically for smoke to escape, so until you close it, warm air escapes—24 hours a day!
• For new construction, reduce exterior wall leaks by installing house wrap, taping the joints of exterior sheathing, and comprehensively caulking and sealing the exterior walls.
• Use foam sealant around larger gaps around windows, baseboards, and other places where warm air may be leaking out.
• Kitchen exhaust fan covers can keep air from leaking in when the exhaust fan is not in use. The covers typically attach via magnets for ease of replacement.
• Replacing existing door bottoms and thresholds with ones that have pliable sealing gaskets is a great way to eliminate conditioned air leaking out from underneath the doors.
• Fireplace flues are made from metal, and over time repeated heating and cooling can cause the metal to warp or break, creating a channel for hot or cold air loss. Inflatable chimney balloons are designed to fit beneath your fireplace flue during periods of non-use. They are made from several layers of durable plastic and can be removed easily and reused hundreds of times. Should you forget to remove the balloon before making a fire, the balloon will automatically deflate within seconds of coming into contact with heat.

Sources of Air Leaks in Your Home
Areas that leak air into and out of your home cost you lots of money. Check the areas listed below.

Dropped ceiling Recessed light Attic entrance Sill plates

Water and furnace flues All ducts Door frames Chimney flashing

Window frames Electrical outlets and switches Plumbing and utility access

Scotts Contracting is available to assist you in improving your Home or Business Energy Demands.  Please use this form below to Contact Scotty, Scotts Contracting to schedule a FREE Energy Analysis for your Property.

Poll: How can I help you save money on your Winter Time Heating Bills?

Click Here to take the Poll: How can I help you save money on your Winter Time Heating Bills? you will be redirected to the Sister Site at Word Press

Weatherization doesn't cost it Saves! - 

Rule of Thumb: For Every $1 Spent on Weatherization- You will Save $2-$3 on your Home's Energy Bills

Example: By adding the suggested Inches of Insulation you will save 10-30% amount on the Energy needed to heat your Home = Lower Heating Bills and Greater Comfort Levels for you and your family

CAD Drawing-Insulation -St Louis Brick Home-Examples

How insulation Saves Money- How Insulation Works-Typical-St Louis Brick Home used in Examples

How Insulation Works

Top View: Brick Home with Zero Insulation

Brick Home Wall Detail with Zero Insulation

Brick Home with Insulation in Wall Cavity

Why Insulate Your House?

Heating and cooling account for 50 to 70% of the energy used in the average American home. Inadequate insulation and air leakage are leading causes of energy waste in most homes. Insulation:

• saves money and our nation's limited energy resources
• makes your house more comfortable by helping to maintain a uniform temperature throughout the house, and
• makes walls, ceilings, and floors warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

The amount of energy you conserve will depend on several factors: your local climate; the size, shape, and construction of your house; the living habits of your family; the type and efficiency of the heating and cooling systems; and the fuel you use.

Once the energy savings have paid for the installation cost, energy conserved is money saved -saving energy will be even more important as utility rates go up.

This fact sheet will help you to understand how insulation works, what different types of insulation are available, and how much insulation makes sense for your climate. There are many other things you can do to conserve energy in your home as well. The Department of Energy offers many web sites(http://ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_07.html) to help you save energy by sealing air leaks, selecting more energy-efficient appliances, etc.

How Insulation Works

How Insulation Works

Heat flows naturally from a warmer to a cooler space. In winter, the heat moves directly from all heated living spaces to the outdoors and to adjacent unheated attics, garages, and basements - wherever there is a difference in temperature.  During the summer, heat moves from outdoors to the house interior.  To maintain comfort, the heat lost in winter must be replaced by your heating system and the heat gained in summer must be removed by your air conditioner. Insulating ceilings, walls, and floors decreases the heating or cooling needed by providing an effective resistance to the flow of heat.

Batts, blankets, loose fill, and low-density foams all work by limiting air movement. (These products may be more familiarly called fiberglass, cellulose, polyicynene, and expanded polystyrene.)  The still air is an effective insulator because it eliminates convection and has low conduction.  Some foams, such as polyisocyanurate, polyurethane, and extruded polystyrene, are filled with special gases that provide additional resistance to heat flow. Reflective insulation or Radiant Barriers works by reducing the amount of energy that travels in the form of radiation. Some forms of reflective insulation also divide a space up into small regions to reduce air movement, or convection, but not to the same extent as batts, blankets, loose-fill, and foam.

Reference> http://ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins_01.html

Click here to: Schedule a Green Site Evaluation to Weatherize your Building against the High Heating Costs Energy Efficiency / Weatherization Series Upcoming Post: Why Sealing Air Leaks Saves Money If you are interested in Green Building on an Investment Property Check out the Benton Gut Rehab Blog Series-Benton Gut Rehab Green Blog Series Part 1: History Part 2: Stone Foundation Repair Part 3: Tuckpointing the Brick Walls pt 1 Part 4: Tuckpointing the Brick Walls pt 2 Part 5: What were they thinking? Part 6: Paint Pro Tip #35 Part 7: Repairing Water Damage-Exterior Wall Part 8: 1st Floor Weatherization Part 9: See the Difference a Little White Paint Makes Part 10: Interior Framing-Plumbing-Laundry Room Part 11: Kitchen Framing Tip #36-Benton Rehab Project Part 12: Water Main Repair- Benton Rehab Part 13: Benton Rehab Project Drywall Installation and Tip: Number 1172

How to Stop Energy Loss or Gain in a Building

How to Prevent Heat Loss with 4 Examples-Diagrams-Drawings for your Building Projects

In recent conversations with customers and peers about Reducing Energy Loss in Buildings / Structures and how heat and cold are transferred into a Building via Conduction. I explained and made reference to using a Metal Cooking Utensil to stir a pot of chilli.

If the utensil is left in the pot of chilli for any length of time. The heat will eventually transfer heat up the utensil handle and will usually burn your hand or fingers.

Heat and Cold enter a Building in the same way; unless, there is some form of Insulation or Thermal Break to prevent the conduction of energy.

Cooking utensil manufactures solve this issue by adding handles made of Wood, Plastic, etc.

The Building and Remodeling Industry combats this energy loss/gain in various ways. Here a few examples, diagrams, and drawings that show how this loss or gain is minimized.

When this heat/cold gain and loss is minimized you will save money on your Heating and Cooling Bills.

By renovating and building using these examples and basic design principles you will save money and reduce Global Warming / Climate Change.

• Example 1. Adding Insulation on the exterior of the Building normally behind the exterior wall finish. This is normally used in conjunction with Insulation in the Wall Cavities.

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  Example 1 Top View

  

  Example 1 Adding Insulation on the Exterior of Wall Framing

• Example 2 – Staggered Wall Studs

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  Top View 2×4 Staggered Studs to Prevent Energy Loss and Gain

  

  2×4 Staggered Studs Prevent Energy Loss and Gain






• Example 3- Double Wall Construction

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  2×4 Double Wall Construction to Prevent Energy Loss and Gain

  

  2×4 Double Wall Construction to Prevent Energy Loss and Gain






• Example 4- Creating a Thermal Break by Adding Wall Channels

Thermal Break created by Wall Channels to prevent energy loss

Thermal Break created by adding Wall Channels to prevent energy loss and gain

The above illustrations are just a few examples of how to prevent Energy Loss in a Building by adding: Insulation, Providing a Thermal Break, and Creating Dead Air Space. Examples 1 and 4 are used mostly in Remodeling and Renovation Projects. With examples 2 and 3 are used mainly in new construction of Buildings. For detailed information, proven scientific facts, about how energy is transferred I suggest reading the Article at Wiki on Heat Transfer at:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_transfer.

If you live in the St Louis Area and are interested in Saving Money on your utility bills by any of the above mentioned diagrams or illustrations I can be reached via: scottscontracting@gmail.com