Foam board insulation up and foundation repaired.

Last week felt a little slow going but we did accomplish two more major upgrades. First, the insulation is now finished with the addition of Dow Super Tuff-R Polyisocyanurate rigid board insulation. Its high R-value will help reduce energy costs. This was installed on the exterior main above grade walls. The new siding will be installed on top of these areas once the new windows are in.

Foam board insulation.

The work on the foundation has been completed as well. The area around the basement was dug up and now all the cement has been sealed, so we won't have all that moisture getting into the basement. Moisture in your basement means the potential for mold, which was an issue when we bought the Mackinaw house. Taking that moisture away removes that risk and keeps you and your family healthier.

RD Prime sealing the foundation.

Roof on, foam spray insulation in, tile out and a wall down... it was a good week!

Things are moving right along. One of the first things we knew we were going to have to when we purchased the Mackinaw House was replace the roof. No complaints here, because it gave us an opportunity to make our first big energy efficient upgrade! We decided on a product from CertianTeed called Landmark Solaris Solar Reflective Shingles. These shingles are Energy Star rated and according to the CertianTeed web site they can reduce your roof temperature up to 20% in the summer. They are energy efficient, looks great and qualify for an energy tax credit of up to $1500 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. They also qualify for points towards making your home NAHB Certified, which is a big goal we have for the Mackinaw House. How can you go wrong? Check out our new roof in Dusky Clay.

Thanks to our contractor Gary L Knapp Jr LLC for completing our new roof!

Another big step done just yesterday was having foam insulation sprayed into all conditioned areas exterior walls. We found after we bought the house that there was no insulation in these areas whatsoever. Again, what an opportunity to show off an energy efficient product. With the many options available we decided Tripolymer spray in foam insulation was best for this home. It was an easy choice since it has the highest R-value of any retrofit insulation around, 5.1 R per inch at 70°F, which is 36% higher than fiberglass and 25% above top of the line blown cellulose.

In addition to those two major items we would regularly recommend to our customers, we have also completely gutted the basement, removed some old tile from the kitchen and knocked down one of the kitchen walls. The basement definitely needed some TLC. Because it has some moisture issues we'll be repairing the tile drain and sealing the brick to avoid future problems. The gutted basement looks a little something like this...

The basement sans old gross carpet and paneling.

The tile in the kitchen/entry way wasn't in great shape and we wanted the opportunity to feature a beautiful renewable flooring option; cork. Cork flooring is made from cork bark, which can be peeled off without cutting down or destroying the tree. It takes just nine years for the tree to grow enough to be harvested again.

Removal of the old tile in the kitchen/entryway/half bath.

We also removed a wall in the kitchen! This is another one of those things we wouldn't recommend to energy audit customers, but again we saw an opportunity. The goal here is to open up the floor plan between the kitchen and dining room and take advantage of all the natural light coming in the two large dining room windows.

Looks like a good spot to add a peninsula.

We are very excited to have things moving on the Mackinaw House. Thanks for checking it out. For more information on home energy audits and how Phoenix UR can being new life to your home please visit our official web site.

Before Photos!

We put together a video of all of our "before" photos, so you can all appropriately ooh and ahh once we have our finished product. Check it out and subscribe to our YouTube Channel:

The Mackinaw House... a work in progress.

The purpose of this blog is to share the experience of making home renovations based on the Phoenix UR home energy audit (we call it the Uber Audit). The details of our home energy audit can be read about here. We decided to buy an older home and complete all of the retrofits and upgrades we might recommend to any home owner based on the data collected in their specific audit. 

From new insulation, to an energy efficient roof, to solar energy, to renewable materials in remodeling... we're going to take this money pit and make it into a money saver! We can do this for your home too! Our goal is to reduce utility bills and provide solutions for in-home comfort.

Phoenix UR not only completes home energy audits throughout Michigan with our BPI Certified auditors, but we take you from there all the way through your upgrades with our team of licensed builders, licensed insulators, HVAC, and window professionals. Everyone on our team follows strict BPI standards, so we achieve you the savings we promise in your audit report.

This will be a casual place to document our progress and share it with the world. Once the Mackinaw House is complete, we'll have a perfect model of what Phoenix UR is capable of.  

Welcome to the Mackinaw House...

A first before photo. An efficiency diamond in the rough...

Contact us with any questions about the Mackinaw House 
or for more information on scheduling your own home energy audit.