Attic Insulation !!

[darrel632]

Your better off if you can afford it is rip down the plywood soffit, (you have plastic screwed to them?) and go aluminum on all the horizontal surfaces lets air in keeps critters out, drilling holes is a boon to wasps, hornets, mice, and other assorted beasts like bats, etc. The less wood you have the less rot your gonna get over a period of time when it comes to this kind of reno. takes time and money, but like a trike its a source of pride when you've done it correctly.

[bigredhead]

I hear ya..

The entire house was " House Wrapped " with one inch high density wool and foil backing, then vinyl sided, 4 years before i bought it.. 6 years ago...i've had it 2 years now. New shingles.. windows.. doors.. idiots had to have noticed the insulation after repairing some portions of the roof, but never did anything about it.

They installed J trim and soffet vents over the existing wooden eaves.. so once winter blows over, the plan was to remove the vinyl soffet, drill holes in the wood eaves .. like sloth posted. and cover the holes with fine mesh screen.. then re-install the soffet vents.

When i moved in.. the place had mice.... LOTS of mice.. wasps in the front yard and in the BASEMENT.. and ants condo's in the back yard...

I won the war on all of them.. and little by little.. this place is becoming the jewel it once was.. but it's alot of time and money.... oh yeah.

[bigredhead]

Herre are a few pictures of the past few days.

See in the 1st one how the eave is PACKED tight and soaked.. i'm amazed that there was no huge amounts of mold.. too cold i guess.. thank god.

2nd one is how wet the wood is under the insulation when i removed it. all dry now..

[traxxasx]

Are those blood drops.....and DAMN those boards are soaked......i bet there warped....

[hoser]

Fine mesh screen will become plugged in a few years with dirt and what not reducing flow by 80% or more if your going to cover with screen cut 1' diameter holes...

[1985 200s]

I don't see roofing nails protruding through the roof. Thats odd. They should penetrate all the way through. They used some short nails or redecked over the old deck and didn't increase nail length. When you reroof in a couple years make sure you use nails long enough to penetrate all the way through. Don't be surprised when you reroof to see nails starting to pull up on there own. If the nails don't penetrate all the way through they tend to loosen and work there way out from the freeze thaw cycle especially as wet as that roof was. As far as ventilation measure your house's length and width and multiply it to get square footage of the house. Not concerned if it's more than one story just the general square footage of a single story. The general rule is 1 square foot ventilation for every 150 square foot without ridge vent and 1 square foot ventilation for every 300 square foot with a ridge vent. I generally use all perforated soffitt if there are just gable end vents and alternate vented and solid when theres ridge vent. Also there is a soffitt panel out now that is solid from underneath and perforated it's entire length in each of it's channels which looks cosmetically better and can be used with ridge vent and give enough ventilation.

[darrel632]

It's sad but most guys in the reno industry really have no concept as to how critical insulation is and how to put it in so its affective, it really doesn't suprize me that a bunch of roofers overlooked it, most of 'em don't know what they are looking at. I think if I was you and you can recover all your "overlay" soffit, I'd just get rid of the plywood under it and use straight soffit, its engineered as a stand alone product, and will ensure adequate ventalation.

[1985 200s]

It's sad but most guys in the reno industry really have no concept as to how critical insulation is and how to put it in so its affective, it really doesn't suprize me that a bunch of roofers overlooked it, most of 'em don't know what they are looking at. I think if I was you and you can recover all your "overlay" soffit, I'd just get rid of the plywood under it and use straight soffit, its engineered as a stand alone product, and will ensure adequate ventalation.

Even if you can't totally remove the plywood cut as much of it out as you can with a recip (sawzall) saw or jigsaw. The holes I was refering to in a previous post was not intended for the ply wood under the soffitt. In your most recent pics I see the situation better and you don't appear to have those boards. In some houses I've seen there was a block of wood that spaned across the roof joist's on top of the upper wall plate up to the roof as a way of segregating the outside eaves from the interior. I don't see those in your pic. They would be right where that insulation sticks out that is cramed in the eaves.

[bigredhead]

Are those blood drops.....and DAMN those boards are soaked......i bet there warped....

Actually.. they look quite good for what they have been subjected to.

My house was built at a time when a 2 x 6.. was actually 2 x 6 ....

I was curious about the lack of roofing nails as well... the boards that the shingles nail into are a good INCH thick... it's not the crummy half inch particle board they use now-adays.. that might explain it.

I have done alot of research and asked a tonne of questions since i've began this project.. have learned alot.. specially that there are more opinions on how things should be done than ants in an ant hill... it's amazing.

Thanks for all the info guys.. keep it comming if you think of anything at all !

[bigredhead]

oh.. and another question.

I was up in the attic itself yesterday pushing the old wet insulation thru the sections of crawl space i canot reach from underneath.. and found a fair amound of powery green mold on the rafters and an insane amount of particles in the air from moving around ( when you look at the beam of light you can see tonnes of crap floating around..

Should i bag and remove all the old paperback wool insulation and bleach the entire attic.. or assuming that things will stay dry now that it's vented.. just cover the whole thing with pink batts and leave it be ?

Hauling all that away is not fun.. i already have about 20 industrial husky bags piled behind the garage in the snow.. another 6 in the spare bedroom and i have to haul it thru the house making a horrible mess and dust all over the place.. if it can stay there. i'd rather leave it.. but it it's better to remove it now's the time to do it.

suggestions ?

[1985 200s]

Personally I would clean it up just due to the potential allergens. If the mold does not become wet it can not grow though. In your one pic it appears there is ply over those 1 inch boards. Regardless the nails should penetrate. I also doubt your boards will warp they should be quite stable after all these years and if there not warped now they should be OK. All the info I have given I have given only because I know or I woudn't give it. I still see roofing companies roof houses wrong and there clueless. I follow manufacturers exact specs and instalation instructions so as not to void any warranty and I've been doing this along time. I was self employed but got sick of competing against half assers who do it cheaper and usually wrong. Thats how they make it profitable enough that they can under bid. Problem is alot of times an issue arises after the new owner buys a recently remodeled house. They go for best prices when remodeling for resale so people need to be carefull when purchasing a recently remodeled house.

[bigredhead]

Yeah.. i agree..

The people i bought it from had an " Inspector " check it before they got the house 4 years prior to me.. as it had just been renovated.. they were never told about the venting problem.. the inspector poked his head in the attic and said " it needs more insulation " and that was it.

Some people should not be employed in certain fields sometimes.. sheeesh..

I love the location and got it for an incredible price, so even if i have to totally re-renovate it again.. properly, i'm ok with it.. then i know it's done right..

I understand what you mean about undercutting, some guys just don't care about what they do, only want the money, and half ass everything.. it's horrible. but you see it in every field out there.. it's too bad.

I love watching Holmes on Homes !! lol.. he's hilarious when he gets pissed at contractors..

[1985 200s]

Yes the inspectors to are usually in a hurry to get as many done as they can, thats how they make there money, and often overlook things. I am actually contemplating getting licensed to do home inspections. It's sad to see some of the crap that goes on. It's a major investment and sucks to start loosing money on it right away. Your lucky you got a good deal there are others who loose there ass. Your deal would have been even better though had you not had these issues.

[bigredhead]

True.

You should have seen the ordeal i had to go thru to remove 2 and a half tank of 15 year old furnace oil from the basement !!!! that was fun.

We had to empty them, cut them with sawzalls and haul them thru the house in pieces.. god that was LOUD.... never spilled a drop tho.. phew. ( i'm told that can be expensive !!!! )

Next big project involves tearing down the chimney, installing a propane fireplace with direct vent... that's gonna suck... it's no more than 10 years old but the bricks are brittle and are falling apart.. i don't use the current wood fireplace at all because of this.. the liner is ok.. but it needs to come down.

I either have to skim coat it, and frame / side it or tear it down.. leaning on tearing it down.

[darrel632]

I'd wait till spring to get rid of the dry green mold, make a hatch or opening in an area exposed to the ouside (open up the soffit some where and push it out) try to vacuum the dry stuff out with a HEPA filtered vacuum before removing the batt insulation), and dispose of the bad stuff without going through the house, the last thing you want to do is spread potentially harmful spores inside your house; if its dry and seems properly insulated in that area let it go til its warmer -beach or ammonia everything wood after. So far you seem to be doing everything as best you can and should have no issues when your completed.
Good Luck