Home maintenance, remodeling, repair, and improvement tips for your property
House attic common problems and solutions. Attic ventilation and mold issues.
I have an extreme amount of moisture in my attic, I recently had my roof re-shingled and had the roofer add 2 more vents for better ventilation. There is a build up of frost in certain areas of my roof, it has been an extremely cold winter, would lack of insulation cause this and how deep should the insulation be?
Have you ever wondered how much attic insulation is enough?
Lack of the floor attic insulation (house top floor ceiling), or inadequate amount of the insulation are definitely some of the most important reasons responsible for migration of conditioned (hot or warm) air into the attic.
During the cold season, missing attic floor insulation or low levels of attic insulation might be devastating, result in excessive condensation, attic mold growth, ice dams, and deterioration of the roof decking surface.
With sufficient attic ventilation, conditioned air that has penetrated ceiling surface into the attic would be discharged from the attic into the house exterior, […]
Let me give you an advice on how to get rid of attic mold, something to consider before signing a contract with a mold remediation company.
House attic ventilation & vent chutes
Vent chutes that are also called baffles or rafter vents play an important role in your attic ventilation system.
House attic vent chutes and their three important roles in attic ventilation:
vent chutes provide unobstructed air passage between the soffit vents and the attic
vent chutes allow installation of attic floor insulation close to the soffit, without worrying about clogging the soffit attic ventilation ports with insulation
vent chutes allow for sufficient accumulation of insulation right above where your house ceiling meets the exterior wall, thus limiting air exchange between the living space and the attic
However, your attic ventilation / air […]
Roof ice dams formation on your roof
Roof ice dams formation along the edges of your home roof and icicles hanging from the gutters and / or soffits should never be ignored. Their beauty on the exterior has roots penetrating your house attic and wall structures, often causing significant damage.
There are three main things responsible for roof ice dams:
Inadequate / improper house attic insulation
Inadequate house attic ventilation
Heat sources in attic area
Any areas between the attic and living space that are missing or have a low amount of insulation permit unwanted heat to transfer from the house into the unheated attic.
Warmer air […]
Black mold growing in the attic does not necessarily cause your house air contamination. However, mold usually becomes an issue when discovered during the home inspection. In addition, depending on the attic mold contamination extent, correcting the problem could make a significant hole in your budget.
There are actually several different reasons that might be responsible for the mold to appear under the house roof… and sometimes compromise your real estate transaction. That is why attic evaluation and attic mold treatment (if you’re out of luck) should be performed before even putting your house on the market, and on regular basis.
Depending on your house interior and roof framing design, cathedral ceiling ventilation can be treated as an independent, or attic ventilation related condition. As much as regular attic ventilation is an important part of your house maintenance routine and usually easy to perform, cathedral ceiling ventilation maintenance might be difficult or even impossible to do.
Majority of problems with cathedral ceiling ventilation develop in structures where the ceiling framing, and roof framing are the same. What it means, that there’s no accessible attic between the ceiling and roof surface, only narrow, rafter / truss space which should be partially filled with insulation. […]
Attic ventilation
In order to provide proper attic ventilation, number of attic vents needs to calculated and strategically installed. This is one of … or rather the most important issue associated with attic area, having huge impact on your house “health” and proper functionality (especially in cold climates).
As long as you have an attic (most likely if your house has a pitched roof and none or partial cathedral ceilings), it should be accessible, and periodically checked for any abnormalities.
Many of the home owners don’t even realize, that there’s an attic, and how important it is to maintain attic ventilation and […]
Attic power vent fan blades are extremely sharp!
When doing any type of maintenance work around it, make sure that power supply to the motor has been turned off!
Most of those attic vents are controlled by a heat or humidity sensing switch and can become active / cause injury while you’re performing maintenance.
Humming, muffled noise coming from above the ceiling during the summer is most likely an attic power vent, working hard to pull out hot air from under the roof (attic power vent should be placed close to the roof ridge – top, or installed as a gable […]