Has there been a nip in the air in your home lately? Have your energy bills been sky-high? While you might play it off as just another cold winter here combined with the uptick in activity surrounding the holidays, you shouldn’t let a chilly home go without explanation. Your comfort matters, especially given everything that 2020 threw at your family; you deserve a cozy place to take a break from life’s hectic schedule.
A chilly home can also signal something much more dire: an improperly ventilated attic. While the solution to this may seem simple—just cram more insulation in there or cut some more vent holes, right?—the consequences of letting this problem go unchecked for too long can make fixing things a tad more complicated, to say the least. Costly roof repairs and hazardous health problems abound. Thus, for the sake of your family and your pocketbook, you must learn to recognize an improperly ventilated attic so that you can both stymie the heat loss with the help of a roofing contractor and stop the issue from snowballing into a roof-ruining nightmare.
What Does an Improperly Ventilated Attic Look Like?
We admit, if you poke your head up there, you’re unlikely to see much of interest except rafters and insulation. It’s incredibly difficult for the average homeowner to detect if something’s amiss when it comes to their attic. Combine that with the fact that every attic’s ventilation style is different and that it’s not the only thing that can cause a chilly house and this becomes one tricky problem to diagnose. Regardless, it pays to get a certified roofing company out onto the premises to fully assess the issue.
However, there are a few more obvious signs that point to an issue with attic ventilation, aside from a cold home and higher energy bills:
- Your attic is frosty. Is your attic a venerable winter wonderland? That’s not necessarily magical—it can be a cause for concern, though it’s a nuanced issue. Frost in the attic isn’t always problematic, and even if it is, it’s not a hard-and-fast indicator of a ventilation problem; your home, for example, could have a humidity issue instead. If the amount seems excessive or it’s failing to evaporate entirely once it turns to liquid, you have a problem that needs professional attention.
- The wooden parts of your roof are deteriorating. When the aforementioned frost melts but fails to evaporate, all that water sticks to the wooden areas of your roofing, opening the doors for rot. Like we said, frosty attics aren’t necessarily a cause for concern or an indication of a ventilation issue in and of themselves. However, if your roof is looking worse for wear, of course you need a pro’s help!
- You’ve got insulation blocking ventilation spaces. Insulation is a good thing—it helps keep the wintertime chill out of our homes. However, it can actually contribute to that chill if the insulation installer went a little ham and crammed it into places it shouldn’t be. Moisture that fails to evaporate thanks to those ventilation spaces being blocked wets down the insulation, preventing it from doing its job and thus making your home colder. A roofing contractor can help assess your insulation situation and see if it’s choking your roofing out.
An Improperly Ventilated Attic Can Be a Nightmare
“What’s the danger of a little water?” You might ask. “Isn’t my home designed to handle it?” Well, yes, to an extent. That’s what your seamless gutters are for! However, when water finds itself in places it shouldn’t be, thanks to improper ventilation, your home has no defence, and the results can be devastating.
- Mold from improper ventilation can cause serious health problems. Dark and moist areas like a poorly ventilated attic are perfect spots for mold to begin to grow. Left to its own devices, colonies can become massive and contribute or cause a variety of ailments, including respiratory irritation.
- When moisture causes rust, your roof can fall apart. Nails and other objects used to make your roof are as vulnerable to rust as anything else made of metal. If these things deteriorate, your roofing can slowly begin to fall apart, necessitating drastic roof repair measures.
- Your roof’s lifespan can be drastically shortened. Fancy premature roofing replacement? You’ll need to if your attic is improperly ventilated. Because it’s so destructive, excessive moisture left to its own devices means that you’ll need to budget for roofing replacement soon, whether you like it or not.
Contact Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors for Quality Roofing Replacement and Roof Repair
Our Sauk Rapids team has the versatility and experience to tackle any roofing problem thrown your way. Just like you deserve comfort, you deserve the help of a stellar roofing contractor like us to ensure it. Give us a call today at 320-252-9086 to schedule an appointment.