Poor Insulation and Air Leakage in Historic Home

Anecdote

Mr. and Mrs. Leakey loved their historic house. They enjoyed showing off all the well-preserved moldings and the beautiful oak floor. But as winter approached, they dreaded having the same argument about covering the floor with carpeting. "You know I can't stand how cold the floor gets," began Mrs. Leakey.

"Don't worry," replied Mr. Leakey reassuringly. "I went down in the crawl space and wedged some foam insulation board between the joists," he explained. Mr. Leakey shuddered when he remembered working in the dark, damp space, but was proud of himself for tackling the project. "It's going to be OK this winter, you'll see," he said.

But it wasn't. After several days of cold weather, it was clear that cold drafts were still coming in around the floor's heat registers. The floor wasn't warmer either. "Are you sure you installed that insulation the right way?" Mrs. Leakey asked. Dismayed, Mr. Leakey returned to the crawl space, this time with a more powerful light. The insulation he installed was still in place, but the light revealed gaps in the insulation, and there were areas he wasn't able to reach.

"How am I going to get insulation back there?" he wondered. Then he noticed mold growing on the floor joists. Even though he hated being down in the crawl space, he was dreading the trip back upstairs.

Back to previous page