In Prairie du Chien, the Mississippi River doesn't just shape the landscape — it shapes the way buildings age. High ambient humidity throughout spring, summer, and fall creates constant moisture pressure on building envelopes. Traditional insulation products like fiberglass batts and blown-in cellulose are permeable to moisture vapor, meaning they can absorb humidity and hold it against your framing, creating ideal conditions for mold growth, wood deterioration, and long-term structural damage. In winter, that same moisture freezes in wall cavities, and the combination of freeze-thaw cycling causes even well-installed traditional insulation to degrade faster than in drier climates. For Crawford County's farming community, agricultural buildings face these challenges at an amplified scale — open-wall construction and large door gaps make pole barns especially vulnerable to moisture infiltration and heat loss.

If left unaddressed, poor insulation leads to: