Insulation that passes the rater the first time

Why the grade is the whole job

A HERS rater grades insulation before drywall, and then it is buried. That grade carries real weight: ENERGY STAR v3 and most utility new-construction programmes require Grade I to qualify, and Duke Energy pays builders an incentive for efficient new construction that depends on the programme you are enrolled in.

Grade I allows only occasional very small gaps, with compression or incomplete fill under about 2% of the area. When an install is graded III, RESNET models roughly 5% of the insulated area as if it were not insulated at all. You paid for insulation that then stops counting toward the score. In U.S. Department of Energy field surveys, only about half of homes reach Grade I.

To be exact about who does what: we install to the Grade I standard and document it. The rater grades it. We do not grade, rate, or certify our own work, and no installer can promise you a HERS score, a blower-door result, or a code-compliance outcome.

Grade definitions and the 5% modelling penalty per RESNET and the Insulation Institute. Incentive availability and amounts depend on the Duke Energy programme and are set by Duke, not by us.

Photographed before drywall

Every bay is photographed with a depth reference before it is covered. You get the set. If a rater questions a wall, or a buyer asks what is behind the drywall two years from now, the answer exists as a file instead of a memory. This costs nothing but discipline, which is exactly why it is worth asking your current sub for.

What we install

Where it goes

• Attic: new, replacement, or top-off
• Exterior walls
• Interior walls for sound control
• Crawl space, between the floor joists
• Rim and band joists
• Air sealing

Rim and band joists get board, not batt

Batt at a band joist is a building-science failure. Fiberglass is air-permeable, so conditioned interior air still reaches the cold rim, and moisture condenses behind the insulation where nobody sees it. We cut and seal rigid board at the rim instead. It is a small line item that quietly prevents a callback years later.

Who is actually on your site

An owner is on site for every job, start to finish, and signs off on the work before it is covered. Tony Kermis is a former North Carolina home inspector, which is where the documentation habit comes from. Grade I is a function of supervision and care rather than headcount, and keeping an owner on the work is how we hold that standard on a builder's schedule.

What we do not do

We do not install spray foam. If your assembly is specified for closed-cell or open-cell foam, we are not your sub for that scope and we would rather tell you now than waste a bid cycle. Rigid board at the rim is a different product and we do install that. We also do not currently take on multifamily or commercial work.

Insurance and paperwork

Carolux Insulation LLC is a North Carolina limited liability company and carries general liability insurance. A certificate of insurance and a W-9 are available on request, and we will send both with a bid if you want them up front. All work carries a 2-year workmanship guarantee.

Where we work

Charlotte · Huntersville · Pineville · Matthews · Mint Hill · Concord · Harrisburg · Belmont · Cramerton · Gastonia · Lowell · Mount Holly · Stanley

Building outside that list in Gaston or Mecklenburg County? Ask. If the schedule works, we travel.

Send us the plans

Email the drawings, the lot count, and your target programme if you are chasing one. You get a written scope and a number back. If the scope calls for something we do not install, we will say so in the reply instead of bidding around it.