Before & After Photos

Back in 2020, Laswon Home Services were called to address foul odors coming from the crawlspace of this Camden Wyoming, DE home. Our Energy Auditor went into the crawl space and found that it had only a thin layer of black plastic, which had been laid directly onto the dirt floor of the crawlspace. This plastic was not sealed to the edges of the walls, and, in fact, you could actually see the dirt around the edges of the plastic. Ground moisture was evaporating and traveling around, and even through the thin black plastic, ending up raising the relative humidity of the crawlspace air and then condensing on and being absorbed into the wood structures supporting the first floor. The evidence was clear to see: mold was growing all over the wooden floor joists.
Lawson Home Services removed the musty damp insulation, pulled out the ineffective black plastic and installed the Dr. Energy Saver CleanSpace™ Crawlspace Encapsulation System and a Sedona™ SaniDry Crawlspace Dehumidifier. 

This homeowner made the wise decision to set up an annual maintenance schedule with Lawson Home Services. A technician now returns annually to perform a number of things, among them inspecting the CleanSpace liner and servicing the Sedona™ SaniDry dehumidifier, and makes sure everything continues to function as good as it did the day it was installed. This home passed the 2023 inspection with flying colors. We'll see them next year.

Sealing the insulation in this wall section was among the many improvements Lawson Home Services did in this Smyrna, DE home.
The problem here is the backside o0f this fiberglass insulation has no air sealing. As a result its ability to insulate is seriously compromised by an effect known as "wind washing" where small air currents drive right through the open fibers and allow transfer of the energy the insulation is intended to block. The solution is to install SilverGlo™ rigid foam insulation over top. The SilverGlo™ provides three levels of comfort and energy protection. First, the air flow is blocked, stopping the wind washing effect. Second, it provides an additional layer of insulation. And third, because it is shiny, it reflects radiant heat off the surface, which is very important when summer temperatures in the attic can reach 150 degrees. 

Basement windows that were installed in the past were typically made of metal which rust and seize up, with single pane glass which provided almost no insulation value, and were also very leaky. These poor quality windows resulted in huge energy losses and drove up utility costs. 
Lawson Home Services installed new EverLast™ replacement windows in the basement of this Viola, DE home. These  beautiful windows are constructed with reinforced vinyl, which do not rust, or seize up. The glass is double-pane which provides insulation. EverLast™ basement windows are available in two types (shown in the "After" photo above), fixed window or sliders that can be opened.
Lawson Home services also installed other energy saving features in the older home. One is an air-tight flue cap which is operated with the damper control. This flue cap stops a lot of heat loss when the fireplace is not in use. A big energy saver. 

Older homes are notorious for leaking air.  Air leaks mean loss of energy and increased utility costs of heating and air conditioning. This problem is typically caused by many factors. This home in Viola, DE had leaky basement windows which were replaced with EverLast™ vinyl windows. But perhaps one of the biggest losses was occurring around the fireplace damper. These are hard to seal and result in huge amounts of energy loss. Lawson Home Services installed a Airtight Spring Top Chimney Cap , which is operated by a cable connecting it to the damper control. This certain helped reduce the the air leak in this home.
The blower door test readings shown in the before and after photos above are proof of the reduction in air leakiness of this home - CUT IN HALF! This will have a huge impact on utility costs for this happy homeowner. 

The numerous leaks and cracks in the ductwork of this 1964 Colonial Style home in Claymont, DE did not escape the eagle-eye of Lawson Home Services Specialist, Troy Rowland. This home, built over half a century ago, had numerous issues, but this metal ductwork was particularly leaky. In fact it was so leaky it almost went completely off the scale of the equipment measuring it.

But this was no problem for our steadfast crew. They went to work and soon the numbers began falling. When the work was finished the duct leakage was about one-fifth the amount it was before the work began.

Good job Troy, for discovering those leaks to begin with, and  thank you to the hard working crew for sealing them right up. We know this homeowner is going to be a lot more comfortable in the cold winters and hot humid summers to come in the following years.