Athens, PA Why is air sealing so important?

Since attics are vented, we should think of them thermally as outside in the winter. Because of the suns radiant heat in the summer, they are much worse than outside, reaching 140 degrees on the 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, and heat doesn't pass up through our ceilings in winter, and down from our ceilings in the hot summer. 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, chimneys, electric boxes, fixtures, ducts, ceiling grilles and joints in framing. The reason cold air leaks in from the outside into the lower levels of the house is that warm air (the air you pay to heat in the winter) leaked out of the top and created a suction at the bottom. Attics are dramatically under-insulated compared to today's standards. 

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 fiberglass insulation DOES NOT STOP air leaks. That's why Foam It Insulation 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 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. 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.