Don’t Let the Joke be on YOU!!!

In our industry, we sometimes encounter friends, family and potential customers in quite a fix because they hired someone who isn’t an expert in our field.

Case studies:

A friend, sheepishly asked Wm to come take a look at the $6,000 insulation job she had a pest control company do. You read that right – a pest control company! They were in her crawlspace doing what they do and told her they observed her insulation falling down, which they could replace for her. They charged her 3x the standard cost and simply put in more batted insulation. We could’ve installed higher quality insulation for a lower price that would’ve created an air barrier between her home and crawlspace and lowered her energy bills. The real irony is that our insulation and air sealing would have kept pests out of her house! Before you let a pest control company insulate your home, let Responsible House fix your pest woes!

William went to complete an energy audit on a home that had already been air sealed not by Responsible House. Upon entering, he immediately smelled combustion. Whether it was perfect or imperfect (read: carbon monoxide) combustion he did not know. They had a gas log fireplace with no ventilation at all – very dangerous!! He advised them to turn off the gas supply until their house could be tested. Their attic had been conditioned and though their house was still leaky (from not having that air sealing tested and verified), it was tight enough to cause a potential health hazard because of combustion appliances they were operating. Sorry – this one’s not funny because it’s too scary.

A family friend and former customer contacted us because his new home’s roof was dripping. He thought he needed a roof repair. The previous owners had conditioned their attic without a building performance analyst, like ourselves, testing their home as a complete system. Part of their approach involved putting up a vapor barrier over top of insulation they put between the attic rafters. What they did was trap moisture between the roof deck and the vapor barrier – effectively creating a “rain forrest” in their attic. They did not ventilate the attic at all, in other words, they did not condition the air, which allows moisture to be removed. The roof decking was covered in mold, and if the problem had continued undetected, they would have had to replace a rotted roof. As it was, they had to remove all that moldy insulation, professionally clean the moldy decking and have a commercial dehumidifier take their moisture levels from 50{7f05f7305ccbeede06e072806975648415415b267bdf3d38bf9fb54460b78bb8} down to a more reasonable 9{7f05f7305ccbeede06e072806975648415415b267bdf3d38bf9fb54460b78bb8} and finally replace the insulation. The “joke” here is that a conditioned attic should increase the air quality and value of your home, but because it was not done properly, it increased air contaminants and decreased home value by creating a roofing issue!

A new home owner bought an older home with an impressive solar array. This new homeowner called us in shock over his first winter heating bill. He thought – as most people would – solar panels = energy efficient home. It turned out that his solar panels were performing very well, but his house was not. Solar on the outside doesn’t mean efficient on the inside. His house was extremely leaky and the energy created by his panels was leaking out thru the “usual suspects.” There was a recent magazine article that caught this owner’s eye that advised having an energy audit performed before buying a house, so that the buyer knows how efficient/inefficient the house is. He showed us this article, saying he wished he had called us before buying. Solar energy can be wasted just as quickly as the energy from the utility companies.

Enjoy your April Fool’s Weekend and don’t let the joke be on you! Rely on Responsible House.

Happy Clients

Responsible House worked tirelessly to bring back to life my family’s 100-year old farmhouse with a major energy retrofit and extensive structural restoration. I cannot say enough good things about this local, family owned business. They meticulously pursued perfection at… Read more “We are immensely grateful”

Joyce C.

William came to study the problem. He was incredibly thorough weighing in all possible causes and solutions to my Attic blues. He then put together a plan and executed it to perfection. If you do not go to Responsible house… Read more “Attic Blues”

Charles C.

They caulked all the places on the interior of my log home where I was losing heat. I am saving 20% on my heating bill now. The team also fixed minor issues with the house which they found during the… Read more “Very Happy With The Work”

Donna S.

The experience I had from Responsible House installing my new insulation it was quick and effortless. Their team came in and within two days I was able to return to a much warmer house. My air-conditioning would run almost constantly… Read more “Quick And Effortless”

Jason W.

The upstairs level of our home used to get extremely hot in the summertime, using a lot of wasted electricity to try to cool things down. Responsible house was able to insulate our home which ended up zeroing out our… Read more “Extremely Hot Upstairs Insulation Google Review”

Rachel B.

The most amazing contractors I have ever worked with – William saved us! You will not find anyone as professional and competent – not only in the valley but honestly anywhere. I have had so many bad experiences – Responsible… Read more “Dahlia N./Houzz.com Review”

Our project consisted of a kitchen/bath/bedroom remodel – a roughly 5 month project. William and his team were the consummate professionals throughout–skilled, knowledgeable, straightforward and direct. They provided advice and recommendations when needed and dealt promptly with any problems that… Read more “Kay B./Houzz.com Review”

Not only do they provide high quality services, they also are extremely easy to work with and they have a strong sense of design. -Michael Brown/Houzz.com… Read more “Michael Brown/Houzz.com Review”

“We highly recommend him and his team, and especially for a custom plan containing elements which are not standard construction.” –Custom Home… Read more “Custom Home Client/Houzz.com”

They have a very thorough attention to detail, and always rendered results that were exactly what the clients and I were after. –Annie M./Houzz.com… Read more “Annie M./Houzz.com Review”

A Net Zero Home
When conditioned air is trying to escape to the coldness outside, it has a hard time. This house only allows it’s volume of air to switch with the outside once every 24 hours. That’s 12 times more efficient than the average home. This is the 2nd tightest house we have built.
Outdoor Kitchen Window
Energy efficiency is not about your windows but this is one of the times we do recommend replacing your windows - when you are reimagining your space. This kitchen renovation on a 200 year old home also highlights Responsible House’s breadth of experience and that we can handle any projects tangential to your insulation needs.
Kitchen Remodel
We had to give you a peek of that window and kitchen from the inside. Truly reimagined!
Nellysford Cottage
This adorable cottage may not look fierce, but it is holding onto it’s air envelope mighty tightly. It takes 12 hours for all of the conditioned air inside of this house to sneak through the tiny holes present and be replaced by unconditioned air from the outside. In contrast, the average home does this every 2 hours. Super leaky homes (and plenty exist) perform far worse than that – every hour or even less!
Bungalow Remodel
These homeowners took it slowly over 5 years - insulated the ceiling of their basement, replaced their roof to prep for solar, had some solar installed, conditioned their attic (and replaced old HVAC equipment), and finally completed their solar array. Their home is cozy and energy efficient now.
Annie Interior
On a cold day, this home exchanges the entire envelope of air inside with the outside air about once every 40 hours. This is stunningly low! This translates to not having to keep your heater running on a cold day because you aren’t constantly heating the outside air that is coming in. The average house exchanges it’s entire volume of air (that you paid so dearly to warm up or cool off) with the outside air every 2 HOURS.