Heat enters your attic right through the roof. The hot summer sun beats down on your shingles, heating them up. This heat has to go somewhere, so it moves down through the shingles and into the plywood of your roof deck. You may think that insulation you’ve placed below the deck will stop any further heat transfer, but unfortunately, this just isn’t true. The heated surfaces will just transfer the heat to the insulation itself, plus the walls, beams, and any other surfaces they touch. This in turn heats up the air in your attic, and drives that heat down to places to escape. Remember, the rule of heat conductivity is that heat will always look for a cooler place to go. While heat rises, it’s still making its way into your cooler living spaces at the same time. The air inside your attic can reach temperatures upwards of 180 degrees—far hotter than it actually gets outdoors. Vents allow the heat to escape by both letting it rise and ensuring that it doesn’t remain trapped in your living space. This lowers the heat load in your attic and the air pressure at the same time. The result is a more comfortable home, and an air conditioning unit that doesn’t have to work as hard. In turn, you also get lower energy bills because the passive vents have no moving parts and require no energy to work. Vents allow your AC to run more efficiently, which translates into lower energy costs.

The attic and other storage spaces in your home, like a crawl space, are usually isolated and go unvisited for long periods of time. The lack of attention leads to neglect, and before you know it, a real mess has accumulated in there! Just like any other frequented space in your house, the attic needs a regular good cleaning. Many people shy away from this arduous task because the attic can be stuffy, dusty, uncomfortable, or for some – downright creepy. But opting out of cleaning is not just lazy, it’s risky. Without proper care and cleaning, unwanted problems such as mold, dust mites, and pests will begin to fester! Don’t let your attic end up in a state of emergency. Get on a regular cleaning schedule! If you have kids, some of the cleaning tasks make great job additions to the chore rotation. Follow this guide and mark your calendar to keep on top of your attic maintenance! Attic decontamination is serious business and must be handled by professionals who have undergone proper training and know the importance of proper masks and cleaning materials. In short, a simple wipe down after a rodent infestation isn’t going to cut it – you need a full-scale professional decontamination to remove all harmful substances from your home for good.

Different material can be installed in your walls, including blown-in/loose-fill, batts and spray foam, but it can depend on your home or building’s structure. For existing homes, blown-in insulation should be used. The dense-pack installation technique for this can not only help protect against air leaks, but it also doesn’t disturb finished areas of the home too much. For remodeling jobs where wall cavities will be open, consider a two-part spray foam insulation. Materials often used in unfinished walls include blanket insulation, rigid foam, concrete block insulation and structural insulated panels.