We focus a lot on window sealing, door sealing—but what about attic sealing? It’s certainly something that deserves every homeowner’s attention! Because your attic plays a huge role in managing your home’s ventilation, as we covered in our roofing contractor blog on the topic, any malfunction in this carefully designed system can throw your whole house out of whack. Indeed, consequences of an illy cared for system include mold, water damage, and even an unnaturally chilly house.
Plus, according to the ENERGYSTAR.GOV, “the attic is usually where you can find some of the largest opportunities to save energy in your home,” so if you’re looking for a home renovation that can help you save big, you might just have found it. Below, Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors, your Sauk Rapids roofing company of choice, details everything you need to know about the process known as attic sealing—what it is, what its benefits are, and how to tell if your home is direly in need of it.
What Is Attic Sealing?
Attic sealing is pretty self-explanatory in nature; basically, it’s a process that involves blocking off drafts and leaks that allow airflow between your living space, the attic above, and the outdoors beyond. It’s important to the health of your home because ventilation systems are made to function without these leaks. If you add them into the picture, they can therefore mean part of your home’s air and moisture management system can no longer perform as it should, resulting in anything from low air quality to excessive dust.
What Can Attic Sealing Do for my Home?
What’s so special and efficacious about patching up a few air leaks? Quite a bit! If your home is in need of this renovation—and we’ll let you know how to find out in a bit—it can completely revolutionize your living space’s atmosphere and feel, not to mention save you quite a bit of money in the process.
Improve Your Residential Indoor Air Quality
Residential indoor air quality is a subjective term, but according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, it generally “refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants.”
If air quality in a given space is high, you experience no ill health effects and are content to exist there. If, in contrast, the air quality is low—which can happen as a result of an attic that needs sealing—you can deal with fluctuating interior temperatures that your thermostat struggles to fix. You could also be living in air that leaks in from your attic, and therefore carries more than its fair share of pollutants. After all, attics are notoriously dusty, and when was the last time you cleaned yours?
Save Money
As we stated above, ENERGYSTAR.GOV attests to the fiscal benefits of caring for your attic. When you close up unwanted gaps and allow air to flow in a way that your building was designed for, you’ll reap the maximum efficiency from your ventilation system.
Moreover, though, attic care comes with additional savings. When your HVAC system doesn’t need to constantly overwork itself in an unwinnable battle to keep your drafty home comfortable, you won’t pay as much for repairs, and you’ll see your system last longer. You’ll also need to pay far less in energy bills. Plus, you’re likely to save on filter replacement costs, too, as the system will no longer need to deal with the excessive dust flowing in from your unsealed attic.
How Can I Tell If My Home Could Benefit From Attic Sealing?
Simple: you call a roof repair service.
All attic spaces benefit from regular inspections as far as sealing goes. If you know it’s been a while since your preferred roofing pro last came out for service, don’t hesitate to phone them up. They’ll not only be able to tell you definitively if you need attic sealing, but also stop potential air leak issues before they become huge problems.
Professional help is also useful because it can be tricky to tell if a home’s attic needs to be sealed without years of experience, as many of its symptoms can mimic those of other household problems. Fluctuating household temperatures, for example, can be caused by anything from an attic that needs attention to a fussy thermostat to a need for window replacement. A dusty home, likewise, can be caused by a malfunctioning HVAC system, a poorly sealed attic, or a laundry list of other interior imbalances.
You’ll also need professional help because you should never attempt to DIY this project, especially if you spot mold damage or moisture problems. It can come with serious health risks if the process isn’t done safely—if, for example, any necessary electrical wiring isn’t tended to beforehand.
Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors: Roofing, Siding, Windows and More
We’re a top Sauk Rapids roofing and exterior renovation team with the expertise required to keep all parts of your home standing strong. Reach our office today at 320-252-9086.