There is a family in Florida that was exposed to friable fiberglass which has caused a serious health problem for the family. The wife recently had a baby and was concerned about an itchy sensation on her skin that she and other family members were having. The family of five experienced a variety of eye, ear, skin and respiratory problems. She was also complaining of a large amount of white dust particles all over her furniture and personal belongings.
Six months prior to this time, the family had a licensed insulation contractor lay additional insulation over the existing builder-installed batt insulation. They wanted to save money on their electricity bill and they thought this was the right way to go. Even the power company got in on the act by giving them an incentive award for increasing the R-value of the home’s insulation. Sounds great, right? Well this is just the beginning of a nightmare for this family.
They called us to do an investigation of indoor air quality and found they had old style recessed lighting in the ceilings. There were approximately 20 of these accessories. The problem with the old style lighting was that there were four slots in the side of the attic that allowed heat from the lights to dissipate. These slots were 3/8″ X 2″ long. This roughly equates to a 2″ plus hole in the ceiling at each location. Multiply by 20 lights and you get a 40″ total hole in the ceiling. Wow, that’s a big hole in the ceiling. These holes prevented the lights from overheating and starting a fire. This is a great concept for a fire hazard, but a bad concept for indoor air quality and blown insulation. The only requirement with these older style lights was that you couldn’t cover them with insulating batting. We found several recessed lights with blown insulation covering them and also inside the lights.
After taking several air and tape samples and sending them to a laboratory, the results were positive for fiberglass in the air and on surfaces in the areas tested. The first thing we requested from the client was to remove and install the new sealed recessed lighting in the house. They hired a licensed electrical contractor, removed all fixtures, and fixed the attic air intrusion problem. That was just the beginning of the solution, then they had to HEPA vacuum and clean everything in the home to remove friable fiberglass particles on surfaces.
How would you like to live this nightmare for over a year due to the incompetence of a contractor who didn’t think of the job?
This is just one example of what is happening in our construction industry due to poor planning on the part of the contractor. Remember, you get what you pay for; the low offer is not always the right person for the job.
If you decide to add insulation to your attic, check with the insulation manufacturer and see what their requirements are before hiring someone to do the job. Have your attic checked first for holes leading to the attic that could allow air into your home. If you do this, you will not face this kind of problem.
Next on the list, have your ducts checked for any type of leak and seal. Check all your electrical fixtures on the roof and seal them. Make sure the person doing the repairs is competent and knows what they are doing or it will affect you in the long run.
Caution: Follow all local building code requirements. Call them and talk to them.
If you have any questions, please call us at (954) 531-6476.