Questions tagged [attic]
Attics (also called "lofts") are the space immediately below a house's roof.
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Any concerns using blown-in cellulose without blower in a small cavity between cathedral ceiling and roof?
The living room of my '20s house has a cathedral ceiling (a trapezoidal ceiling). Most of it is accessible from the attic and insulated with fiberglass batts. However, on the right side (and a tiny ...
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Will warm air from bathroom window get sucked up by soffit?
I am not fully aware of how attic vents work. But for example, I leave my bathroom window open for a few hours each day in the winter and it dries out, usually have a fire going. So a lot of heat ...
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Drilling through the top plate in the attic where the roof and wall meet its hard to drill down to run nonelectrical wires (speaker wires.etc..)
Am I to assume is all most impossible to do drill down from in the attic because of the tight space? last time I tried drilling down I couldnt get my body and arms wasnt long enough to drill down. I ...
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How to block or cover soffit to prevent humid air from a soffit vent re-entering the attic?
Long story short, I was having humidity issues in my attic caused by humid air from my bathroom not being vented out the soffits correctly. To try and remedy this I installed a soffit vent to send ...
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Should I block soffit vents around an exhaust vent to prevent the humid air from going back into the attic?
I have a question regarding soffits, insulation, and baffles. I bought my first house about a year ago and I unblocked all of the soffits because the baffles were falling apart and most of the ...
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Advice on installing a curtain on a slanted ceiling
So i have recently moved back home to live with my parents in their new house. The previous owner did a lot of DIY and did his own loft conversion, installing a rather steep and hazardous staircase ...
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If a skylight is eliminated, must the light well be ventilated?
A sloped roof has a skylight with a light well into a bathroom. As part of a roof renovation the skylight will be eliminated. The intention is to finish the bathroom ceiling flush, which would ...
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What are these vertical supports in my attic, and do I need more of them before installing rooftop solar panels?
My 1960s house was built by first owner's father, so on the one hand it has nice touches and character, on the other hand it shows plenty of layers of DIY over the years. This gives me some ...
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Is it permissible to add attic intake vents through aluminum fascia?
My home has soffit vents on the front, south-west facing side, intaking air for a gable roof with a ridge vent at the top. However, the back, north-east facing side has no intake for the back slope of ...
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Can I install rock wool insulation over blown insulation? [closed]
I recently had foam insulation (closed cell) installed in my attic. The foam fully sealed the ceiling (roof of house) and all vents. The floor of the attic has very old blown-in insulation covered by ...
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How to ventilate an partially enclosed external stairwell
We are in muggy hot coastal South Carolina, in a kit house that is elevated approx 10ft on cinder block pilings. Our "garage" stairwell is screened at ground level then the stairs lead up a ...
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What do I need to do with my chimney before blowing in fiberglass?
Dayton OH for code purposes (climate zone 5).
I have been preparing to blow in fiberglass insulation to my attic (had likely-asbestos-containing vermiculite abated) by installing soffit vents, using ...
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Attic Sealing and Insulating
I own a house in Maryland (Climate 4a) that was built in the 1950s. I am doing a major remodel and would like to improve the attic of a section of the house to convert it to conditioned storage space ...
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Should I eliminate insulation baffles when installing spray foam in a vault ceiling?
My home has portions of my roof that are vaulted ceilings, and the rafters are finished with drywall on the underside about halfway up the roof line, then it transitions to attic space. Those rafters ...
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Attic Ventilation above a cathedral ceiling
Our house has soffit and ridge ventilation except for the great room which extends out of the main structure dormer style.
This great room has a cathedral ceiling, it's 2x8 construction and packed ...
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120 year old house - insulating attic room
I have a 120 year old farm house. On the second floor, it still has the original plaster walls and ceilings. An attic space exists above the ceilings and behind walls on two sides of the house. ...
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Can you help me to plan for catwalk installation on this attic? [closed]
I need to make a catwalk in the attic of a building as an access for people to maintain HVAC equipment in the building.
but the situation is as in the photo, the ceiling has been installed, if anyone ...
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Is my insulation good enought for bathroom vent duct in attic?
Installed new bathroom fan and rerouted the vent pipe from the roof to the soffit. My bathroom vent duct runs approx 6 ft through my attic to the installed soffit vent outside. The soffit vent design ...
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Running circuit wires on the exterior wall to the attic and from there to the desired location: what does the code say how should it be done?
I am installing a smart toilet that will consume ~1000w.
The bathroom already shares a circuit with the kitchen so every time the dryer and the microwave or the convection oven are running at the same ...
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Need access to attic to run cables, blown lose insulation, 2' access clearance -what is the best way to proceed without compressing the insulation?
Here are two pictures showing the situation:
This shows how much clearance is there, just below the collar ties
The picture is taken along the longitudinal axis of the attic (a rectangle)
This shows ...
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Is poor attic insulation the cause of a temperature difference only in one upstairs room?
We just bought our first home last month and after the first few nights sleeping there we noticed the master bedroom is noticeably colder than the rest of the upstairs overnight. The master is ~10ft ...
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Can the loft width be greater than the floor below (UK house)? [closed]
We had some plans drawn from an architect for a loft conversion and the interior width for the loft is about 100mm wider than what it is for the floors below. The house is a semi detached. Can this be ...
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Insulation installed backward - what to do?
The insulation in my attic and crawlspace appears to have been installed backward. The paper backing is facing away from the living space toward the unconditioned crawlspace/attic. I am concerned that ...
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How can I prevent condensation in attic air conditioning ducts?
We have a very new AC unit in the attic in northeast PA. It's cold in winters and the attic is cold and has air vents to the outside. The 8x12" AC vents in the ceiling are condensating severely ...
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Question about running coax cable into the attic
I'm planning to run a coaxial cable from my network panel into the attic for a TV antenna. Since the network panel is located in a room directly beneath the attic, my plan is to drill upward from the ...
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Will foam board inside South facing attic wall cause moisture problems?
I have a large south-facing wall that is in full sun. I live in climate zone 4 and my attic is vented properly, according to local codes, with eave & ridge vents (no fan). The insulation is in ...
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Wiring Switched Lights and Constant Power Receptacle
I am adding a network switch to an unfinished attic (just rafters and blow in insulation). I need a receptacle to power the network switch and some light would be nice to see what I'm doing.
The attic ...
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How can I tighten attic framing connections that have separated?
We have recently had some work done on our house (new boiler, rewiring, plumbing, an extension). While tidying up in the attic, I noticed a potential issue.
Here is a general picture of the space:
On ...
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2 Wire-no ground power source connected to switch powering 3 lights with 2-wire with ground
I have a pull-chain light in the attic of an older house (1964) we recently purchased. The power coming into the light fixture is old 2-wire with no ground.
I would like to remove the pull-chain light ...
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What effect does attic insulation have on comfort in lower levels of a three-story building?
I live in a 1926 co-op building in PNW USA (3 stories + partially underground ground level) with radiator heat served by a gas boiler.
The attic insulation is pretty minimal. We can get some money ...
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Small bulge in the ceiling after freezing temperatures no moisture
Can someone help me to identify root cause. We did purchase a home recently and it is built in 2000. We did some painting and refreshed a paint on a ceiling across the house in autumn 2024. Just today ...
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How to upgrade insulation on an old converted attic? [closed]
We have recently purchased a chalet bungalow with the roofspace converted into 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. We are going from the EPC rating and surveyor the insulation is only at around 100mm - and ...
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1/2" vs 3/4" OSB for Attic Storage [closed]
Looking to get an updated perspective on 1/2" vs 3/4 thick OSB for attic storage.
Seems it's pretty split but I went ahead and did 1/2" with 24" on center joists. Each 2 x 4 is ...
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Access to cross gable attic
I recently have been doing electrical work to install ceiling fans in my house. However, in the front office, there is a cross gable roof.
When looking in the attic, I can get to just past the door ...
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Attic access door replacement key [duplicate]
I am looking for a way to access this door, but do not have a key. Our builder did not include it with the home, and I was able to get a picture of our neighbor’s key. I would like to find somewhere ...
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Incorrect roof vent for bathroom fan?
We had our house re-reroofed a month ago. I just noticed that they replaced the previous bathroom fan roof vent with this T-style vent with a wide oval base:
That wide base gave me a bad feeling, and ...
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Need advice on how to sister cut joist
I'm installing a range hood, and need to make room for the Ducting. Unfortunately the hole is going right through a ceiling joist (will use bends to avoid cutting the rafter).
I understand it's fine ...
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Is ridge venting adequate for my insulated pole building?
We have a traditional pole building built in 1985, and live in central Washington. Half of its footprint (2400 sf) is an apartment.. The ceiling is joists with fiberglass insulation. In the attic the ...
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Recessed spotlights in converted loft in the UK
I want to install recessed spotlights in a bedroom in a converted loft and I am not sure whether it is ok to cut into the insulation that is above the plasterboard. Given that I need 6 or 8 spotlights,...
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Attic insulation compacted. What is a simple solution? [closed]
Previous owner of the house had cameras installed. The electrician had to compact the insulation which I understand is bad. It is the white spray kind.
It was suggested that I could go to the store ...
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What qualifies as "guard strips" for attic wiring?
I am working on getting my attic wiring up to U.S. code (ideally a bit beyond it). Currently most of it is strewn over the joists/rafters every which way, much of it not even secured in place with ...
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How to patch drywall flush to the attic door without using molding? [duplicate]
I recently installed a new attic ladder and am considering patching the drywall instead of covering it with molding. I’ve done some research and found options like J-bead. Do you have any suggestions ...
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Who to believe?: Attic mold/roofing advice
Background:
Two years ago: I noticed that the roof plywood in my walk up attic had moisture. There are stairs going to a storage room with pony walls (in here the insulation is right on the plywood), ...
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Attic insulation around electrical fittings
The attic insulation in my house is wearing thin. It’s old R25 installed in 1988. Also at least 20% of the space is not insulated. There are lots of spaces around light fittings, wiring etc that have ...
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Attic Insulation Options - Old House
I have a very old home built in the 20s in St. Louis area of Missouri. I am unable to get my HVAC to set a comfortable temperature in summer and winter. My AC runs most of the day in the summer and ...
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Fixing Recessed Can Loose Light Holder in Ceiling (20 feet) - Can I fix it from Attic?
I have ceiling that is about 20 feet high, and one of the bulb holders in recessed light fixtures has come loose, preventing me from installing a new bulb using the bulb changer pole. Unfortunately, ...
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Adding shelves to angled/vertical beams in attic
I’ve seen posts where doing things with attic trusses can be a no-no but saw others that say otherwise.
I was thinking of putting a couple pieces of plywood between 2 sets of vertical and horizontal ...
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Attic Insulation and Air Baffles Questions
I'm a young homeowner who has been renovating my attic to turn it into a 2nd floor. I've gotten great advice from reading lots of posts in this sub, and now I've come for help. I'm getting ready to ...
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Attic Moisture/Leaks onto ceiling
I've had slight moisture issues ever since the new roof was installed a couple of years ago. The ceiling in the bathroom was just painted and there's a water spot again. I have no idea what the ...
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Fixing a finished attic with poor/partial insulation
I just moved into a house with a finished attic. The second floor of the house (below the attic) is regularly 10 degrees warmer than the first floor with the AC running nearly constantly. I decided to ...
