What Should You Do to Make Your Older Home More Livable?

Back to Blog

From Rockland down the Maine coast, many homeowners live in historic houses that are beautiful and full of character, but often tend to be inefficient and uncomfortable — particularly during the hot summers and bitter winters.

Fortunately, making your older historic Maine home more livable is possible with high-performance insulation.

How Insulation Will Make Your Home More Comfortable

Some of the problems you may be struggling with in your older home include:

  • Drafts
  • Areas that are unbearable during the summer and winter
  • Musty smells

After standing for years and enduring Maine’s challenging climate, an older home has more gaps and cracks in its structure than newer builds and its insulation levels are frequently inadequate.

If you’re looking to make one investment in your home to increase livability, make it insulation. Insulation installations provide lasting value because — when done correctly by a professional team like Evergreen — they last for the lifetime of the building. Before even applying the insulation we make sure the area is air sealed to stop unwanted heat loss, allowing the insulation to work optimally.

Basement Encapsulation

Basement encapsulation stops unwanted cold air intrusion with air sealing & insulation. It also eliminates moisture intrusion with drainage and a vapor barrier. The improvement increases the durability of your home and helps it become more comfortable and healthy, without unpleasant drafts and odors. For homeowners with potential radon issues, we make sure the encapsulation is compatible with radon ventilation systems.

Additional Benefits of Insulating Your Maine Home

Adding insulation, air sealing, and encapsulating your basement will result in the following changes:

  • Improved comfort during the summer and the winter
  • Reduction in drafts
  • Improved energy efficiency
  • Lowered energy bills
  • Enhanced durability
  • Improved indoor air quality

Evergreen Home Performance: Your Maine Insulation Specialists

Adding insulation to your older home is a delicate process. At Evergreen Home Performance, our team is trained in dealing with historic homes. We have helped homeowners from the Midcoast to Southern Maine restore their homes with solutions like insulation and replacement windows and doors so they’re comfortable, healthy, and energy efficient.

Are you ready to live comfortably in your historic Maine home? Contact us or call 207-594-2244 to schedule a free consultation today.

Update Your Historic Home Today!

207-594-2244

The crew members from Evergreen Home Performance each made sure to greet us every day, while maintaining their distance in this time of the pandemic. Their work took a total of nine days, spread over three weeks. Even though they were working in multiple rooms of our house, as well as the basement and attic, they were unobtrusive and always cleaned up after themselves every day. The on-sight manager kept us informed of their daily schedule so we'd know which parts of the house they'd be working on.

Bob & Sue

Whitefield

I used to spend winters in the bathtub because my house was so cold. This was my first winter roaming around my whole house comfortably. This even led me to decorate a little. My heating oil usage has been reduced by over a quarter: I rarely have to boost the thermostat because the temp stays at a constant. The Efficiency Maine rebates, together with the energy savings, make it affordable for me to pay for the loan I took out to finance the project. I do not worry about my pipes freezing.

Claire Helene Bevan

Camden

Highly recommended. Our heating usage is now less than half what it was before we had our roof insulated. Evergreen was knowledgeable, friendly, and left no trace they were ever in our house. Not only is our heating bill much lower now, but our home is generally more comfortable year-round with less temperature fluctuations. Money well spent.

RC Lations

We had Evergreen energy do blow-in cellulose. I was very happy with the result. They tested with blower-door before and after. House is now MUCH warmer. Also, in the time since when I've had to open walls for various access, I've been impressed with how they got the insulation packed in everywhere. I'd use them again.

Noah

Peaks Island

Evergreen removed and replaced the insulation in my attic. They did a great job!, Crew was excellent, and the whole thing went smoothly, and the attic was NOT easy to get into or work in, so kudos to some hard work done well!

Joel A.

Portland

The Evergreen Team did a fabulous job and was very tuned and responsive to the particular needs we had. The job was done right on budget and we are thrilled with the improved warmth and energy efficiency.

Ira M.

Rockland

Last week, my oil company asked if we were using some other kind of fuel because our usage was so much less than they had expected We are very happy with the results; the house is much more comfortable

Steve T.

St. George

Evergreen did a fantastic job replacing 28 windows in our house. They were friendly, courteous, and very detail oriented. Brian did a great job planning, estimating and executing the project. Our energy use has dropped significantly since the work was done.

Alex B.

Kittery

This team of individuals was professional at all times. They set up barriers that kept the dust at a minimum. They conducted an air flow audit and cut the draft circulation from the outside in half by sealing cracks. They hauled out the old insulation and replaced it with blown in insulation with an R - 60 Value. They also did the rebate paperwork so that I could get my $1500.00 rebate from the state of Maine. I highly recommend Evergreen Home Performance!

Daniel B.

Rockland

From beginning to end – that is from the moment Justin McEdward stepped into our home to assess our energy conservation needs until the crew left – the Evergreen Home Performance process went absolutely smoothly. Justin made a thorough inspection and took pictures with an infrared camera. His proposal described the scope of work in detail, and he explained what we could expect the proposed work to accomplish. Our proposal was forthcoming within a couple of days, and Justin was available to discuss it and answer questions.

Adrienne Harkavy

My experience with Evergreen was excellent. From their thorough and thoughtful initial consultation to their detailed post-work visit, the team was professional, knowledgeable, and responsive. Their workmanship was top notch. Our home is now much warmer and more efficient. I highly recommend their services!

Douglas R.

Edgecomb

Awesome company. It was a few years ago that they did the audit and then we commissioned them to do the work. We subsequently sold our house and moved to South Africa, but their level of service and expertise will live on.

Odette Brown

Led by Brian Robinson, the Evergreen Home Performance team just completed an insulation refit at my home. It was truly a great experience from start to finish, a period of time that was a fraction of the time that I originally anticipated due to the team's unbelievable work habits and professional knowledge of their tasks. As impressive were the communication skills and friendliness of each and every member of the team.

Anne W.

Rockport

Evergreen has insulated two homes that we've owned now and both times we experienced exceptional service and craftsmanship. Our rep, Justin, went above and beyond answering questions and the installation team was attentive to every detail, including pulling out old poorly installed insulation and redoing a bathroom fan that wasn't up to current code. They also left the place spotless every day! Our home is already so much warmer this fall and we are looking forward to using less oil this winter.

Eva G.

Falmouth

From start to finish, our experience was incredible. Justin was extremely helpful. The crew was fast, friendly, and efficient. And most importantly, our home is WAY warmer and our heating is less costly. I'd highly recommend evergreen to anyone looking to upgrade their home!

John S.

South Portland

Portland Buy Local
Efficiency Maine
EPA Lead-Safe Certified
Building Performance Association
BPI Certified