Taking Care of the Attic: Where to Start and What’s Important
Attics are similar to crawl spaces in the way that they can be easily ignored due to not being a main part of the home’s living space. Unless it’s for storage reasons, you’re probably not up there often. However, the attic plays a big and important role in the home’s environment. Regardless of the current conditions within your attic, the attic’s air will find a way to flow into the rest of the home. So if your attic is clean, tidy, and well ventilated, then the indoor air quality in your home is likely okay. This means that the opposite is also true.
The best practice to ensure that your attic is free from mold growth and is insulated properly to defend your home from heating and cooling loss is through an attic evaluation performed by a moisture management professional. That moisture management professional will then cover these four main attic services:
Remove Debris & Old Insulation
The main features of any great attic service approach should include disinfection and sanitation, in addition to an attic clean out.
This will be necessary even if any pests have already been removed from the property. This is because animals can leave behind odors and materials that attract other pests. These remnants require expert sanitizing processing in order to protect your home from additional infestations. Our service team is experienced at applying the latest technology to keep your attic free from infestation.
Pest infestation services should also include a complete plan for the attic. The best feature of our plans includes the use of highly effective products to eliminate odors and pheromones that attract insects, pests, and rodents to the attic to breed. The full decontamination feature is extremely popular because it gives you the peace of mind you deserve. The attic should be a place that repels insects of all sizes from breeding.
In addition to removing any debris and signs of pest activity, it’s also imperative to remove any wet, old, damaged, and/or hanging insulation. Not only is this type of insulation not doing anything to benefit your home, but it can be causing issues itself. Old insulation is often used by pests for nesting. Insulation that has absorbed moisture can create a breeding ground for mold and make it more difficult for your home to maintain a regular temperature.
Install New Energy-Efficient Insulation
You might not think about attic insulation when considering your home’s health, comfort, and energy costs—especially if it’s just a storage space. However, proper insulation can have a significant impact on your comfort and your energy bills. Your climate-controlled air stays inside longer, and the cold or hot outside air stays out longer. Because heat rises, attic insulation is even more important than wall insulation. The better the attic insulation, the longer it takes heat to escape from your warm home to the cold outside.
Ventilation
We’ve all heard the phrase “heat rises”, and during the hot months it may seem like a blessing to have that hot air go to the attic because you don’t live there so who cares, right? The problem is that without proper attic ventilation, most of the hot air stops under your roof. As more hot air goes upward, it stacks below the air that’s already there. Once all the attic air is heated, the rooms below it begin to feel the heat, as well.
In terms of cost, the extra heat that’s trapped inside your house forces your air conditioning system to work harder. As a result, your energy bill is higher than it should be. All of that extra heat and lack of air movement in the attic can indirectly cause structural issues, adding to your costs over time. Lack of attic ventilation can lead to problems such as:
- Excess moisture that creates a good environment for mold and wood rot.
- Expansion and contraction of wood that damages your subroof and shingles.
- Ice dams in the winter that can cause water damage when they melt.
- Fixing an unventilated attic.
Proper attic ventilation not only adds comfort to your everyday life in your home, but it also helps to retain your home’s value and the investment that you’ve made into it. This will especially prove to be beneficial if you ever find yourself in the process of selling your home.
Seal Air Leaks & Holes
Sealing any and all air leaks and holes is crucial to achieving any of the results we previously mentioned. Air leaks and holes in the attic will counteract any ventilation system as well as act as a welcome sign for pests to nest there. Therefore, it’s a crucial step in protecting your home and saving on energy costs.
Attic Services by Jersey Shore Crawlspace Enhancement
Professional attic services are designed to get the most long-lasting results, so that’s where every homeowner should start when trying to rehabilitate that area of the home. This is just one of the major advantages of working with Jersey Shore Crawlspace Enhancement. We design each job to meet the target objectives of the customer.
Regardless of ant challenges involved, no job is too big or small. There are also many advantages you get when allowing a professional to perform the work. Our quality assurance program creates the best outcomes that will keep your attic clean and pest-free over time.
Our qualified team members can answer any additional questions you have about this process. We are dedicated to providing you with the most effective attic services available, so click the button below to speak to a representative or complete the form at the bottom of this page.