Travis Builds It

Most people never see this part of the job.

Our crew had already spent hours removing the old insulation when I climbed into the attic to check on the progress.

That’s when I realized we needed to remove a lot more attic decking.

Not because anything was wrong with it—but because you can’t properly remove insulation or air seal the attic floor when half of it is covered with plywood.

So while I pulled up decking, the crew kept moving forward. They installed insulation baffles and completed the first phase of air sealing with canned foam around accessible penetrations.

It’s a good reminder that a Suck, Seal & Blow project isn’t just “vacuum out insulation and blow new insulation back in.”

It’s a sequence.

Every step creates access for the next step. Remove the insulation. Remove what blocks access. Air seal. Verify. Then insulate.

That’s how you get an attic that actually performs instead of just looking finished.

Save this if you’ve ever wondered what really goes into a proper insulation and air sealing project.

Save this reel for a great DIY air cleaner.

More people should know about the Corsi-Rosenthal box.

It’s an inexpensive DIY air cleaner that’s perfect for remodeling projects, dusty jobs, wildfire smoke, or anytime you want extra air filtration in a room.

This build uses:
• Four 20” × 20” × 2” MERV 13 filters
• A 20” box fan
• ZIP System flashing tape
• Painter’s tape

If you’ve never seen one before, save this reel. When you need cleaner air, you’ll know exactly what to build.

For free plans and build instructions, check out the Corsi-Rosenthal Foundation.

Follow me for practical building science that makes homes healthier.

Depending on where your house sits on the golf, you might be able to target!

Remember when we had to put a key in the ignition to start the car? Primitive savagery.

Follow me for real-world building science, roofing, and home performance testing.

The zipper isn’t leaking.

The air is being pulled through the perimeter where the attic tent attaches to the ceiling. That’s the weak point I find over and over during blower door testing.

Can it be improved? Sometimes.

But this is one of the reasons I prefer a Fakro attic ladder. Instead of relying on a fabric box attached to drywall, the air seal is built into the insulated hatch itself.

This isn’t about proving one product is “bad.”

It’s about testing instead of guessing.

A blower door doesn’t care what product you installed. It simply shows where the air is moving.

Save this if you’re planning to improve your attic access or air seal your home.

32 years of marriage to the same woman.
3 grown daughters.
I’m well trained.
Men, choose wisely.

Who’s going to Build Show Live this year? I’ll be at the Roofivent booth! Can’t wait!

🎵 Build Show Live Blues 🎵

If you know Folsom Prison Blues, you already know the tune. Sing along. 😄

Lyrics:

Build Show Live is coming
It starts September 10
All the finest folks will be there
The women and the men
Know better, build better
This movement’s growing strong
Well, I hope to see you down there
On down San Antone.

Build Show Live is one of my favorite events because it’s full of people who genuinely care about building better—not just building faster.

I’ll be hanging out at the Roofivent booth throughout the show, so if you’re there, come say hello. I’d love to meet you in person, talk building science, roofing, ventilation, or just swap stories from the field.

If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time. Head over to the Build Show Live website and grab your ticket.

See y’all in San Antonio.

Sometimes the only practical way to access an attic is through the conditioned space of the home—a hallway, closet, or another interior room.

When that’s the case, that access door becomes part of the building envelope.

Unfortunately, many older attic hatches are little more than a piece of plywood or drywall sitting over an opening. They leak air, lose insulation value, and become one more pathway for hot, humid attic air to interact with your conditioned living space.

That’s one reason I like the Fakro insulated attic access doors. They’re gasketed, insulated, and designed to create a much better air seal than a typical attic hatch.

Is it the biggest improvement you can make? Usually not.

But home performance isn’t about one magic product. It’s about eliminating dozens of small weaknesses that add up to a home that’s more comfortable, more efficient, and easier to control.

Every leak matters.

Save this post if you’re planning a remodel or replacing your attic access. It’s a small upgrade that can make a meaningful difference when it’s part of a whole-house approach.

Is a blower door “cheating” by creating more pressure than your house ever sees?

It’s a fair question.

In this video, I intentionally turned the blower door down to just 10 Pascals.

That’s a surprisingly small pressure difference. On a windy day, parts of your home can experience pressure differences in that range naturally.

And yet… look how much air is still being pulled through that cavity.

So why do we perform blower door tests at 50 Pascals?

Because 50 Pascals is the industry standard. It creates a repeatable test that lets us compare one home to another, calculate air leakage (CFM50/ACH50), and verify whether improvements actually made a difference.

But when I’m walking a house with smoke or a thermal camera, I don’t always need 50 Pascals.

Many leaks become obvious at 25 Pascals… or even 10.

At that point, I’m not trying to prove how leaky the house is. I’m trying to answer a different question:

Where is the house leaking?

Once we identify those leakage pathways, we can seal them and then use the blower door again to verify that the work actually improved the home’s performance.

That’s the difference between testing and guessing.

Save this if you’ve ever wondered what a blower door actually does.