Common Problems
Last Updated on July, 2025
Most homeowners don’t really know what the common insulation problems are in 2025, why would you? You’ve maybe heard a few things from your neighbour or Googled something when your energy bill increased. But unless you're in and out of attics and basements every single day like we are, it's hard to know what’s legitimate and what’s noise. At Mike’s Insulation, our insulation experts see the same issues pop up over and over again, and we’ve learned how to spot them early, fix them, and more importantly, help people avoid them altogether. So, we’re sharing the insights that’ll actually make a difference for your home.
Condensation and Mould
WHY it happens? Interstitial Condensation
The science behind it is that when warm air from inside your home sneaks into your walls, usually through small gaps or cracks, it meets the colder air or cold surfaces inside the wall structure. That is especially typical during winter and especially here in Moncton, New-Brunswick. When that warm air cools down, it releases moisture, like the steam you see turning into water on a cold window. But this doesn’t happen where you can see it, it happens inside your walls. That’s where the word "interstitial" comes in — it means "in between."
That trapped moisture builds up unseen, and over time, it can lead to mold, rot, and damage to your insulation, without you even knowing it.
How to AVOID these condensation issues
It's not only installing the insulation, it's preparing everything around it correctly also. These are things we do to prevent moisture buildup inside your walls:
Air Sealing Comes First
Before any insulation goes in, we find and seal the tiny gaps and cracks where warm air escapes into the walls. Think electrical outlets, light fixtures, framing joints... The places most people overlook. If you skip this step, moisture will find a way in no matter how much insulation you add.
Smart Vapor Barrier Installation
A vapour barrier is only effective when it’s installed in the right place, based on your climate. In cold regions like oursin the maritimes, it needs to be on the warm side of the insulation, closest to the inside of your home to stop moist air from reaching cold surfaces. If done incorrectly, it traps moisture inside your walls.
Choosing the Right Type of Insulation
Different homes call for different solutions. We assess your structure, your environment, and your usage patterns to choose what works best, whether it’s spray foam, blown-in, batt, or a hybrid approach.
Heat Loss
Heat loss in a home is a building science. When insulation isn’t properly installed or your building envelope is compromised, heat escapes through conduction, convection, radiation, and air leakage.
How it typically happens
Conduction
Heat transfers through poorly insulated materials like wall studs, rim joists, or uninsulated attic hatches. If the insulation isn’t properly installed or not dense enough, you’re losing warmth through the structure. Any solid material that passes through insulation like wood or steel framing acts like a bridge that conducts heat out of your home.
Convection
Warm air rises and escapes through ceiling penetrations, recessed lights, attic access points, or unsealed top plates. Meanwhile, cold air gets pulled in from the bottom, that is the classic “stack effect.”
Air Leakage
Cracks around windows, doors, sill plates, and penetrations allow cool air to escape and hot air to rush in. Or, the other way around during our maritime winters: You will lose hot air and the cool winter air will find its way into your home.
Poor Vapour Control
Without the right vapour barrier and air sealing, moist indoor air can move into walls and attics, reducing insulation effectiveness and causing further energy loss.
Heat loss forces your heating system to work overtime and as a result, increases your energy bills and puts wear & tear on your HVAC.
How to FIX these issues
The process of assessment is designed to eliminate weak points and seal your home properly, from basement to attic.
Thermal Imaging & Diagnostic Testing
We use infrared cameras and tools to pinpoint exactly where heat is escaping. With the problem area identified, it is easier to fix it.
Air Sealing First, Then Insulation
We target key leakage points, attic hatches, electrical outlets, rim joists, top plates, and seal them properly before we even touch the insulation. If you skip this step, even top grade insulation (which we use) can underperform.
Right Material for the Right Job
Whether it’s spray foam for air sealing, blown-in for attics, batt for walls, or a hybrid solution, we choose based on what your home actually needs.
Continuous Coverage & Thermal Breaks
Gaps, compressions, and thermal bridges should be eliminated to create a continuous thermal envelope that resists heat loss.
Ice Damming
Ice dams on roofs form when accumulated snow on a sloping roof melts and flows down the roof under the insulation blanket of snow until it reaches below freezing temperatures, typically at the eves causing ice damming. The melting of the snow on the roof comes from heat from inadequate roof insulation, and/or poor ventilation left untreated. Ice dams can cause serious damage to your roof, gutters, paint, insulation, drywall, structure and even contribute to mold.
Drafts
Drafts and cold spots can steal comfort out of your home and money out of your pocket in terms of wasted energy. You can usually feel drafts around windows, doors, electrical plugs and switches. Hire us to identify and resolve the draft sources and cold spots to raise the comfort of your home.