Safety
We take safety very seriously. Carbon monoxide at low levels is much more common than you may think. We highly recommend at least one low level detector per home. Second, during a project please keep yourself safe, here are a few tools to make that easy. Third, dryer vent fires are surprisingly common, but don't cost much to prevent.
Defender LL6070 Low Level Carbon Monoxide Monitor $199 at TruTech Tools These are really hard to find, yet everyone should have one. Traditional carbon monoxide alarms aren't allowed to go off at lower levels (levels that have been shown to be harmful to unborn children). Put one of these near your bedrooms. It will also help detect when a furnace or water heater is burning dirty and/or at end of life. If your home is all electric, you still need one unless you have all electric cars. |
Kidde COPP-3 Carbon Monoxide Detector These will not alarm at low levels, but if you happen to check the level (which it will not display unless you push the button), it will show you the low level reading. These are inexpensive enough to have 2-3 throughout the house. One near the furnace and water heater, one in the kitchen, one near the bedrooms if you don't have a low level one. |
3M 07192 Paint Spray Respirator
If you are spending a lot of time in an attic, spraying foam kits, or if you're going to be around during professional spray foam application, buy one of these for every non professional who will be there. These filter out organic vapors, which are bad news. Better yet buy a full face mask to keep vapors out of your eyes. For spray foam you should be out of the house during application and for at least 24 hours post spray while the foam offgasses. Ventilate the house thoroughly during and after foam application. |
Dupont Tyvek Suit TY127S This can help you stay cleaner. Highly recommended around foam which will permanently stick to your clothes. These get quite hot in summer though. Be sure you hydrate. |
Deflecto Dryer Duct Cleaning Kit Clogged dryer vents are a major cause of house fires, but it's easy to prevent. Use this brush to clean out your dryer vent once a year. This brush will punch right through flexible hose. Switch to hard metal duct, which is less prone to clogging. Change to the Lambro 289 dryer vent to make it easy to clean. |
Lambro 289W Dryer Vent These are super easy to clean out, you can reach your hand in. They also provide a good air seal. If you notice your dryer being cold in winter, it leaks. This will stop that. For less than $25 you get fire safety and an air seal. Such a deal! |
Tools
Having the right tools takes a tough job and makes it at least a little easier. Here are ones we use.
GoChange Foaming Gun Single part foam guns make small air sealing jobs easy, every Home Performance project should have one on it. Regular foam in cans drips a lot and is messy. It doesn't shut off when you tell it to. The gun will. If you can find one of these at a big box (the orange brand has them in my area), they are ~$50. Actual cans of foam are cheaper at big boxes though. I've been using these guns for about a year. They aren't amazing, but they're fine, and for $17 who cares if you lose one or ruin one. They fit every thread I've tried, albeit sometimes a bit imperfectly so the cans will leak a touch. Again, for $17, they're worth it. |
Great Stuff Pro Fireblock Gun Foam This is fireblock foam, so it can be used to seal holes between floors (electric lines, plumbing lines, ducts, etc.) under most codes. Use window and door foam around those to prevent warping. For more air sealing products, see the Air Sealing category. As I post this the price is $15.52. That's a mediocre deal, I often see it in the $10-12 range. Check your big boxes to see who has one, try the orange brand stores. I'm not very picky about brand of gun foam, they have small differences that you might notice as a pro, but don't let that stop you as a homeowner. Get whatever you can buy locally. Buy a few extra cans. When in doubt, go heavy. Be sure to test every seal with a blower door, you'll see why my preference is 2 part spray foam (hint, single part foam often leaks...) |
Dewalt DCK413S2 12 Volt Max 4 Tool Combo Kit This kit contains a small sawzall, two drills, and a really nice light for working in attics that lasts at least 8 hours per charge. Unless you are going to use these tools everyday, these are a good fit. I'd recommend buying two extra batteries so you have one for each tool. (It only comes with 2 batteries.) I use this sawzall to cut holes for bath fan vents in walls and roofs. The drill is flat out useful of course, and the LED light lasts darn near forever but is very bright. |
Bostitch H30-8 Hammer Tacker Great tool for installing ventilation baffles. Lots of weight near the head where you want it. Pretty reliable and easy to unjam when needed. I've tried a number of different designs and this is my favorite. Then, once you make a change, you can see if it worked. I use this on every energy audit. |
Staples for H30-8 Hammer Tacker A box of 5000 of these will probably last until the cows come home. Use for stapling up ventilation baffles or fabric before spray foaming. |
6 Mil Reinforced Poly for Crawlspace Encapsulation I'm not really recommending this product, it's here as a placeholder. Look for at least 6 mil. Black/dark is better because it breaks down more slowly from UV (granted there shouldn't be any in a sealed crawl.) Crawlspacerepair.com is a good place to go for crawlspace encapsulation supplies. |
Cable Tie Gun
Use this to tighten zip ties on flex duct. Hand tightening is not effective. Use this and the odds of air tight duct work are much higher. |