Tight House Woes
May 28, 2019 — Written by Michael Baker
Homes are getting tighter. And that’s mostly a good thing.
Tighter means fewer air leaks. It means your heated or cooled air stays inside longer. That means better energy efficiency, lower utility bills, and, in theory, a more comfortable home.
But let’s not skip the fine print.
Tight homes, done right, are wonderful.
Tight homes, done wrong—or halfway—can create problems you never see coming.
The Ideal Home — On Paper
Let’s outline what most of us would consider an ideal house:
A solid structure. Strong bones. Good layout.
Proper barriers. No water intrusion. Air stays where you want it.
Mechanical systems that work. HVAC, water heater, laundry, etc.
Efficient envelope. Sealed, insulated, ventilated.
Monitoring. Tools to check for temperature, humidity, CO, smoke.
Correction systems. The ability to do something when levels go wrong.
Happy humans inside. Hopefully.
Nobody would buy a house missing #1 or #2.
If the roof leaks, if the foundation is cracked—you walk away or demand a fix. That part’s baked into the home-buying process.
#3? Same thing. A dead HVAC or broken water heater doesn’t sit long.
It’s #4 through #6 that get neglected.
#4 — Efficiency: The Forgotten Middle Child
Joe Lstiburek famously joked, “Nobody calls me at 3AM to say their house is leaking air.”
And he’s right.
If you’re ankle-deep in water, you act.
If you’re sweltering in July or freezing in February, you call the pros.
But if your attic has a dozen unsealed top plates leaking conditioned air into the sky?
Nobody knows. Nobody calls. Nobody cares.
Efficiency lives in this weird gray zone where it’s important—but rarely urgent. And that’s a problem.
In the new construction world, you at least have to hit code. It may not be great, but it’s a floor.
In the retrofit world? It’s the Wild West. No real enforcement. No required standards. Just a bunch of contractors racing to the bottom.
Too many insulation contractors cut corners to win bids. I’ve sat in sales meetings and listened to professionals pitch low-quality, short-term solutions with a smile—because the price was low enough to land the job.
Most homeowners don’t know enough to challenge it. And even if they do, they’re rarely presented with alternatives.
Result?
Efficiency gets “handled,” but not correctly.
Your tight home ends up half-wrong, with unseen flaws baked into the walls.
#5 — Monitoring: If You Don’t Measure, You Don’t Know
Most homes have a thermostat.
Most of us know what temperature we’re shooting for, and whether the house “feels” right.
We also usually have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide monitors (thanks to code requirements and nagging beeps).
But humidity?
Airborne particles?
VOC levels?
CO₂ concentrations?
Most homes don’t measure any of that.
And if you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it.
Measuring Relative Humidity (RH%) is by far the more critical item. Keeping RH ~50%, and knowing when it flexes too far in the wrong direction, is of the utmost importance.
Even the few homes that do monitor humidity levels often lack any equipment to do something about it. That leads us to the next—and biggest—issue.
#6 — Tight Homes Need Backup Systems
In older, leakier homes, the building “breathed” (poorly, inefficiently, and inconsistently)—but it also accidentally vented out moisture and pollutants.
It wasn’t a healthy system, but it was forgiving.
Now, with modern insulation, sealed attics, and tighter construction, your home isn’t forgiving anymore.
If you don’t intentionally ventilate, moisture builds up.
If you don’t filter incoming air, contaminants concentrate.
If you don’t dehumidify, you're setting yourself up for mold and microbial growth.
This is the tight home paradox:
We’ve made our homes better at holding in air… but we’ve done so without giving them the tools to manage what’s in that air.
That means every tight home needs auxiliary systems:
Whole-house dehumidifiers to control humidity
ERVs or HRVs to exchange stale air for fresh, without losing heat or AC
Advanced air purifiers to filter particles, VOCs, and mold spores
Duct sealing and proper return design to maintain balanced air pressure
Smart monitoring to know when something’s out of line
Without these systems, your "efficient" house can become a sealed petri dish.
The Bottom Line
Tight homes are the future.
But only if we pair efficiency with strategy.
Only if we build systems that measure, correct, and maintain indoor air and moisture levels.
Green Check works with homeowners across Florida who have beautiful, high-efficiency homes… that still smell musty. Still have condensation. Still make people sick.
If you’re building tight, retrofit smart.
Seal it. Monitor it. Ventilate it. Control it.
That’s not overkill. That’s modern homeownership.
