Adding insulation to an insufficiently insulated attic can help improve the efficiency of your home and will help make your roof last as long as possible. Improving your attic insulation is one of the most cost effective ways of lowering your energy costs and improving your home. While most attics have some insulation, most don’t have the amount necessary to get to the R-value recommended by the department of Energy. Attics that do have plenty of insulation should be inspected to make sure they are properly sealed from the conditioned space, and ventilated to the outside.
During the recent winter storms in the DC metro area some of you may have notice large icicles on your house. Icicles are often indicative of ice damming on the edge of the roof. Ice dams are when snow melts but re freezes when it gets to the edge of the roof, this can cause water, and then more ice to refreeze and push up under the shingles. Over time this can significantly reduce the life of a roof. One of the major causes of ice dams is a lack of adequate insulation and ventilation in the attic space, warm air can work its way into the attic space, which warms the roof and melts the snow from the bottom, once that water gets to the soffit area where the warm house is no longer below, it refreezes. This block of ice and the end of the roof is what creates the water and icicles problems.
The best way to prevent ice dams is to keep the roof surface as cold as possible by insulating, air sealing, and ventilating the attic space. This has the added benefit of preventing heat loss and decreasing both heating and cooling costs. An effective and generally cost effective method of improving insulation is to air sealing all penetrations into the attic space with a spray foam insulation, and then adding blown in fiberglass insulation to a depth recommended for your area.
Most houses can have their attics air sealed and insulated for between $1 - $2 per square foot attic space. Insulations improvements usually pay for themselves quickly in utility savings. As long as these improvements are made before the end of 2010 they may qualify for a 30% tax credit, helping these improvements pay for themselves even faster.
Contact us or use our estimate request form to set up a FREE inspection of your attic which will include a analysis of your current insulation, a list of recommended improvements, and their costs.
LINKS:
More information from Energy Star on insulating your house
List of items and improvements that qualify for the 2010 Federal Tax Credit
Contact Information:
Phone: 703-731-7819
E-mail: info@TheContemporaryCraftsmen.com