Rodents Were Getting In and the Floors Were Cold. Eric Had Two Problems to Fix.

Eric called us about a couple things going on at his Mendota Heights, MN home.

Rodents were finding their way into the basement laundry and storage area.

And upstairs, the floors around the bay windows were cold.

At first those sound like two completely different problems.

Once we looked at the house, though, we found areas where the existing insulation just wasn’t doing much anymore.

There was old fiberglass batting around the rim joists and underneath the cantilevered sections of the house.

It had seen better days.

The Old Batting Came Out

Our crew at Koala Insulation of St. Paul started by pulling out the old fiberglass.

Fiberglass can insulate when it’s installed correctly and stays in good condition. But it doesn’t create an air seal.

That’s important around rim joists and cantilevers because there can be all kinds of little gaps around the framing.

In Eric’s house, the existing batting had also become weathered and wasn’t doing a very good job anymore.

So rather than trying to straighten it out or stuff more fiberglass into those areas, we removed it.

Now we could actually get to the framing behind it.

We Used Closed-Cell Spray Foam Instead

Once everything was cleared out, we sprayed the rim joists with closed-cell spray foam.

We also sprayed the cantilevered areas underneath the bay windows.

That let us do two things at once.

Insulate those areas and seal them.

For Eric, that was especially important because we weren’t only trying to help with the cold floors. We were also dealing with areas where rodents had been finding their way into the house.

Spray foam isn’t a substitute for pest control, but sealing gaps and openings around the building envelope can help close off some of those pathways.

And unlike fiberglass batts, the foam stays in place and creates a much tighter seal around the framing.

Those Cold Bay Window Floors Needed Attention Too

Cantilevered floors are one of those spots where homeowners can really notice an insulation problem.

You’ve got part of the floor sticking out beyond the foundation below it.

If that area isn’t sealed and insulated well, you’re probably going to feel it when Minnesota gets cold.

Eric was already feeling it.

That’s why we didn’t stop at the basement rim joists. We removed the old batting from those cantilevered sections too and replaced it with closed-cell foam.

Now those areas have a much better barrier between the floor inside and the cold air outside.

Eric Felt Good About the Work

After we finished, Eric left us a great review.

He said our team was “very knowledgeable” and responded quickly whenever they had questions during the process.

But the part we really liked was this:

“We felt confident that the work was done with a high level of expertise.”

That’s what we want.

Eric called because he had rodents getting into part of the house and cold floors in another.

We found old insulation that wasn’t doing the job anymore, pulled it out and replaced it with closed-cell spray foam.

Now those areas are sealed and insulated instead of being packed with old batting.

If you’ve got cold floors, drafty areas or old fiberglass hanging around your rim joists, it might be worth taking a look at what’s actually going on.

Call Koala Insulation of St. Paul or visit our website for a FREE evaluation!