2 Things You Must Have for Your Attic

Your home requires two things from your attic: proper ventilation and proper insulation. 

Proper ventilation and insulation are necessary because the temperature and humidity should be the same inside your attic as outside of your attic. 

Why?

Without adequate insulation or ventilation in your attic, there could be mould and mildew growth, along with rotting that can affect the wellbeing and health of your family. It can also make your home a higher temperature in the summer and lower in the winter, causing your air conditioning and heating costs to rise.

Having proper insulation

Having the proper insulation is critical when it comes to the comfort of your home. It helps keep the warm air in during the winter and the cooler air inside during the summer months. Insulation also helps dilute noise from outside during a storm or other noisy exterior factors. 

After a snowfall in the winter, take a look at your roof. If the snow is melting in patches,  heat is escaping from the attic due to insufficient insulation. When the snow eventually melts, it will begin to refreeze on the eaves of your roof, causing ice damming. 

To learn more about ice damming, read our blog: Issues with Ice Damming.

What insulation could you use on your home?

Batt insulation is manufactured from fibreglass or mineral wool. When installing batt insulation, it's important to note that the air provided throughout the material provides the R-value and should be loose fitting. When the material is compressed, it loses some R-value.

Foam board insulation consists of polystyrene or polyurethane. It's installed around the exterior of your home (to line the exterior walls) and great to insulate below the basement line and over the attic hatch - but not the entire attic. Amvic SilveRboard® Graphite XS is the perfect fit when choosing your next insulation board.

Blown-in insulation is a common type that you can find in attics, and it's similar to batt insulation. It's manufactured from fibreglass or cellulose and should also be installed loose fitting or "fluffy" instead of compressed.

What is proper ventilation?

Since every home's attic and roof are designed differently, each house requires a different amount of roof vents. Each attic needs 1 square foot of venting for every 150 square feet. 

What kind of venting is available?

Soffit venting is for the areas underneath the gables and eaves of your home where you see venting slots. 

Gable vents are the vents you see at the top of the wall in the gable areas (peaked roof).

Ridge vents are a venting system along the ridgeline of the roof.

Roof vents are vents that are installed directly on the roof deck.

Not sure what you're looking for regarding your attic ventilation and insulation? Don’t worry; contact one of our local branches, and they can recommend roofing companies within your area that can help.