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Ice Dam Prevention

What are Ice Dams and how to prevent them?

Your roof and attic spaces form some of the most significant structural components of your home. These areas house HVAC systems and home electrical components and protect against the elements. Thus, avoiding complications with your attic and roof structure plays an essential role in protecting your home from expensive damage. During winter seasonal temperature extremes, snow and ice can accumulate on your roofing and cause serious issues like an ice dam. Solid snow and ice can cause leaks in your home, leading to significant water damage and structural problems. Learning about ice dam causes and prevention can save you money and frustration. What Are Ice Dams? Many homeowners wonder, “What is an ice dam?” Ice dams form because excess snow remains on your roof for too long. When the snow melts and refreezes, it creates a solid barrier known as an ice dam that can cause damage to your home’s structure. The Effects and Causes of Ice Dams Knowing the effects and causes of ice dam roofs can help you protect your home from long-term, expensive damage. After significant snowfall, the warmth from your attic might melt roof snow. As melting snow slides off your roof, it can remain stuck in eaves and gutters. Within these structures, the snow no longer interacts with the indoor warmth that caused the melting. Thus, cold air refreezes it. When cold air refreezes melted snow, it creates a barrier known as an ice dam. These dams prohibit melting snow from exiting your roof through gutters and eaves, which can lead to leaks, mold growth, and water damage within your home. Additionally, ice dams can damage the external structure of your roof, loosening roofing shingles and gutters. Ice Dams Prevention Methods Considering the potential problems caused by ice dams, learning ice dam remedies may help

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Heavy Duty Pull Down Attic Stairs

How to Install Pull Down Attic Stairs

Attics serve many purposes within a home. Homeowners use their attics for HVAC ductwork, electrical system components, and additional storage. Considering their importance, simplifying attic access makes it easier to use this crucial space. Since most attics only offer access through a small, plywood-covered hole, installing pull down attic stairs significantly increases the ease and comfort with which you can use this space. Most homeowners don’t understand how to install pull down attic stairs. While it’s possible to do this job yourself, calling professionals from Attic Projects makes installation easier and faster. What Are Pull Down Attic Stairs? Attic pull-down stairs offer easier access to your attic. These stairs attach directly to the attic access point frame and pull down when you need to use the space. Installing a small rope or handle on your attic door can make it even easier to reach the heavy-duty attic stairs pull-down. When you finish working in your attic, the stairs fold on themselves and tuck away into your attic. Heavy-duty attic stairs pull down and then retract, remaining out of sight when not in use. The Importance of Pull-Down Attic Stairs Pull-down attic stairs not only simplify attic access but also fortify your home’s energy efficiency. You can install insulated pull-down attic stairs to guard against seasonal temperature shifts. Without pull-down attic stairs insulation, your attic’s temperature could impact your indoor comfort and energy use significantly. Pull Down Attic Stairs Installation Process Homeowners considering DIY installation need to know how to install pull-down attic stairs. With this step-by-step process, homeowners can guide themselves through the project. Nevertheless, hiring professionals provides an excellent option for homeowners worried about completing the job correctly. Choose an Attic Ladder Before beginning installation, examine the many options for attic ladders and decide which one works best for

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Building Thermal Envelope

What Is a Thermal Envelope?

A thermal envelope provides numerous benefits for you and your house. It is a great way to make your home run more efficiently while saving you money on your utility bills. In addition, a thermal envelope makes the overall temperature of your house more comfortable and consistent. But what is the building envelope? And how does it work? In this post, we examine what a thermal envelope is, why it is important, and its various advantages. What Is a Thermal Envelope? The building thermal envelope definition is a technical term HVAC experts use to describe the barrier in a home or building that divides the air inside the establishment from the air that is outside. Your roof, foundation, walls, doors, and windows all make up the thermal envelope. The Importance of Building Thermal Envelopes Building thermal envelopes is crucial for keeping heat inside the home in the winter and blocking heat from entering during the warm months. Similarly, it keeps the cool air inside your house during the summer. Ensuring your thermal envelope is properly sealed and functioning correctly is crucial in maintaining consistent temperatures throughout the home. If the thermal envelope is not functioning correctly, you will notice uneven heating and cooling as well as your HVAC equipment working harder, leading to costly repairs and decreasing its lifespan. It can also negatively impact your indoor air quality and increase utility costs. Purpose of Building Thermal Envelope We can break down the purpose of building a thermal envelope into three main categories. Manage Air Control Managing the air control in your home is critical for a number of reasons. The amount of air movement is a large part of how much energy your HVAC system uses and controls how your heating and cooling flow. It also ensures your air quality

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Building Knee Walls In Attic

What to Use for Attic Flooring

Attics are a part of the house with great potential for added space that homeowners often forget about. If you need room for extra storage or have thought about adding another bedroom, game room, etc. to your house, your attic is a great place to start. Due to the nature of an attic’s function, remodeling the space is necessary to prevent a dangerous accident from occurring. One of the most important aspects of remodeling this space is to install the correct type of attic flooring. From a construction standpoint, the attic is important to provide both insulation and stability to your house. If you install an attic floor incorrectly and/or choose a poor material for attic flooring panels, you could potentially cost yourself thousands of dollars in repair costs. Today, the attic flooring experts at Attic Projects present the following guide on how to choose and install attic flooring, as well as answer FAQs.   Considerations for Attic Flooring Installation Before installing attic flooring, you must take the size of your attic’s joists into account. The joists are wooden panels that support the attic’s ceiling and floor (and thus the roof and foundation of your house). Joists that have dimensions of 2×6 or 2×8 cannot support flooring in attics, so unfortunately, you cannot complete an attic remodeling project without replacing or reinforcing these joists. Next, you must measure the distance between the center of one joist to the center of the one next to it. If the distance between the two centers of neighboring joists is 16-24 inches, it is unlikely that you can continue with a flooring attic project without adjusting the joists. There are a few options to reinforce joists so they can adequately support attic flooring systems: Bridging: All you need to do is add wood in

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Installing Attic Ventilation

What Is Air Sealing an Attic?

An efficient home can save you from high utility bills and create a more comfortable environment. In addition to using insulation, attic air sealing is a process to seal every possible opening or gap in your home’s attic. Opting for attic sealing services may provide your home with numerous benefits. However, to get the best results for your air sealing, you should hire trained attic sealing professionals. What Is Air Sealing an Attic? Sealing an attic, also referred to as “air sealing,” entails finding every gap, potential opening, faulty seam, and cavity in your attic. Closing off these troublesome spots with a sealant provides the ultimate protection from drafts, pests, ice dams, and more. The Need for Sealing an Attic Is air-sealing the attic worth it? There are plenty of advantages to sealing attics, like improved comfort levels and better energy efficiency for your HVAC system. While these benefits are great, they’re not a necessity for homes. However, you need a properly sealed attic to ensure healthy airflow throughout your home. Adequate airflow is important for keeping harmful mold growth from remaining trapped inside your home. If you do not seal your attic, it can allow air and moisture to enter the home. When this moisture or air accumulates, it can create ice dams in your roof and uneven temperatures throughout the home.   Cost to Air Seal an Attic The good news is that attic air sealing costs aren’t astronomical. While some DIY the project to save on air sealing attic costs, having professionals complete the sealing process guarantees a job well done and reduces attic sealing costs in the future. Generally, attic air sealing costs between $1,000 to $3,000. However, this cost depends on the square footage of your attic, the number of areas that require sealing, and

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Attic Insulation Cost Calculator

What Is an Attic Insulation Calculator?

An energy-efficient home doesn’t just reduce your energy bills: It can increase your comfort levels during the summer and winter months. One of the best ways to make your home energy-efficient is to install attic insulation or beef up your existing insulation. The cost of attic insulation will vary from one property to the other. To get a definite project cost, you’ll need to use an attic insulation calculator. However, you can expect to spend around $1,500-$4,500 on your attic insulation project. The installation cost will be lower for attics with smaller square footage and those with some insulation. What Is an Attic Insulation Calculator? An attic insulation cost calculator is a formula that provides you with an answer on how much insulation you need to properly insulate your attic. The formula considers factors like the size of your attic and your current insulation levels. You can complete the calculation on your own or get help from any online attic insulation savings calculator with the formula already coded into an interface. Steps to Calculate Insulation Costs Here’s how you can calculate the cost of your attic insulation: Measure the Attic It’s easier to measure square or rectangular attic spaces. You just need to measure the attic’s width and length and multiply both figures to arrive at your home’s square footage. For triangular attics, you’ll need to measure the triangle’s height and width and divide the base in half. The total sum you arrive at when you multiply the triangle’s height and base will give you the square footage of the area. Measure Current Insulation Levels If you already have some insulation in your attic, measure it to determine how much more you need. You can skip this step if the attic has no insulation. To get the total, measure from

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