Tearing into an attic in a building from the 1800s, you’re never sure what you’re going to find. Today was no exception, as there were some good surprises, and let’s say, some challenging ones. First, the good news – insulation! One of the attics (1/2 the home) had R-11 fiberglass batts, and the other had R-19, which is well below current code requirements, but at least a start. There were plenty of opportunities for air sealing, and the crew did a thorough job of sealing all accessible areas, including: capping and sealing around non-insulation contact rated recessed lights, foaming top plates, around chimney chases, light boxes, etc.

In the more spacious section of attic, air sealing with spray foam and the installation of air sealing “hats” for recessed lighting precede the addition of blown-in up to R-49.
The first challenging surprise came in finding a fourth chimney in the attic. Three were visible from the exterior, and one fireplace was visible from the interior, so the original plan was to seal the open fireplace from the interior, and then find the two remaining fireplaces behind the sheet rock, and seal them from the inside too. Fairly simple, except now there would be one extra fireplace to go with the fourth chimney. Still doable. However, after cutting into the sheetrock, we realized that each fireplace on the first floor backed to another fireplace on the other side of the wall. For any of you counting, we’re now up to eight fireplaces. Then, peering up into the flues for the fireplaces that were exposed, we could see that they were about 1 foot square. Problem is, the chimneys were about four foot square, meaning that the chimney chases on the second floor also likely had their own chimneys. Now we’re up to sixteen fireplaces, and opening up 16 holes in the drywall to plug them is no longer sounding like a good idea. On to Plan B, which was to seal and cap the chimneys from the roof, which will help with not only reducing air leakage, but also stopping rain from having a direct path into the building.
After the attic air sealing was completed, the crew blew in cellulose insulation to a depth with an average R-value of R-49. Simultaneously, the aerosolized sealant crew sealed the supply and return ducts in the east building, and the Sasha Bruce maintenance crew ensured that the new clothes dryers’ exhaust ducts were ducted to the outdoors (instead of into the fireplaces flues, as was done previously).

LOOK CAREFULLY to find the air sealing installer in this limited clearance portion of the attic. A couple hours of tough work will create better building performance for years to come.
Over five days, a lot was accomplished on the site, from air sealing, to insulation, appliance change outs, duct cleaning and sealing, heat pump and thermostat replacements, lighting controls, and sensor and data acquisition system roll out. Big thanks go out to all the crews that contributed in the fast paced schedule, and especially to the residents and staff of Sasha Bruce, who lived and worked in a construction zone over the course of the week. And now, let the energy savings begin.