b'Attic Heat.Attic Ventilation Contin from page 8 ued area,entrappingsnowandicemates.Thepinkinsulationwasfactory practice allowing h tocond ng c tractor hadlimeatitioni onbetween the sidewalls of the mainnot installed according to specifi enter the attic involves installingitedspaceto install theh.v.a.c. house and the dormer (See photocations,was blocking the sot thebathroomexh t ventdu system,soheinstalledit within andaus ct 1Reductionof adequatesoffitfit inlet vents.Soffit vent protec into the soffit vents,rather thanthelowsloperoof\'satticspace ). irno stallingtobigisinlet ventilation a flow allowedtors weret utilized and shouldcorrectly in this ductan(See photo 6). This was am excessive heat build-up,h been installed to h outlet vent (Seephoto 2).Soffitt Themoreshallow theroof creatingaveelp avoidake! icedams.The spikesofwh insulation from blocking the soffitventsareinletvents,not outletpitch,the gr r the risk of ice iteeatesnow along the ra outside thevents. 12" of insulation, creatingvents! Everything thatdams.Asidefrom ke, living area, are classic snow-meltanR-38,isoptimal. Remember,exitsthe house atatheverydiffic t ulpatternsindicative of unsatisfac only haveonevapor barrier andsoffitventim i accessformonthly medtttorya icventilationthatwheninstall it facing down to the heatedatelyre-entersthemaintenance,the seen areof excessive heat.surface.Ifadditionallayersofh intheatticlow-slopedroof signsouse Ifmelt had beenresuofinsulationareneededto attainspace, becau that iselimina d buffering snowtheItsete12",useeitherwh soffit ventsdo,air spac between ates unfaced insulation ortheybring in outsidethefurnace andthe blown-ininsulation.air flow.only will Not at, thisaddhe but it will alsohumidity add andmoisturetothe attic,defeatingthe heat from the sun, allof theveryreasonfor roof wouldhavebeenclear, and without any white spikes. The "rule-of-thumb"is that with attic airfunctional ventilation should never bemore than 15 degreeshotter than the outsideair.Ifitishotter,thatroof,ther enhan heat buildfur cing excessiveheatmustbeAllsidewallsfacinganup, leading to sn m t and ice oweladdressed.unheatedsurfacemust be insu insta the bathroom fanedamming, not to men eventual llingin th tion Thegeneralcontractoroftenlated,the vapor barrier facingfirst place.a real problem!pre-matu agingtheroofing withThis isre creates excessive attic heat (Seethe heated surface. Attic air spaceEven ame w atticmaterials. T silver image at the ho ith functionalhe photo4). Standingintheattic,shouldbeconsideredunheatedventilationcannowdeveloptop, cen ofisph is a terth photogralooking down into the open spacespace.Thus,all wa adjoiningmolds on the roof sheathing cav full-sized,naturalgas-fired, lls around the livingfireplace,thatspacemustbeinsulatedtoitiesabovetheseunsatisfactoryforced hot air furnac Exc ive roome.essheatabounds.Otherheat prob he reduce excessive attic heat.ducts. Now you have no air flow,flexdu allowadditional lpcts lems exist here,o. L closelyAlso,adoorleadingtoanaddedtadded humidity inunwantedh toe thea ic to ookhea andeatnterttat the gray area in the p raph,unheatedatticspacemustbeamo environ t. Com space. T bottom, center of this hotog dark,istmen he drywalledtyp al which is the back of theaddressedandtrimmedasif itpoundingexcessiveheat prob photograph reveals aic gap walls.No insulation! Therefore,were an outsidedoor, completelems even further,this addi inthe pinkinsulation, allowing when even when the fireplace is n inwith saddle and weatherstrippingtionwasinstalled,theentireexcessive heat tothec. otenterattiuse, excessive heat isen (Seephoto9).Thisnewlycon house was re-sided. H r, theAn elec ician addedive stillter oweve tr excessing the attic through the uninsu structed homeexcessiveiceoriginalwood-coveredsoffitheatbyinstalling a "stan rd" haddalated walls. This home will havedamleakageandinteriorwateroverhangswereneverremovedrecessedlightingfixturein the ugecost bothwith h utilitysfor heatingdamage,the owners demand before installing the new,perfo master bedroom ceiling for use as anding that the roofer shovel the snowrated soffit vents,eliminatingalight over the bed (See cooling.thusreading Insulation is designed to k poff of the roof,he did at riskall inlet air flow to the attic nphoto.r,the light ee whicheces 7) Howeve when heatwithin the\' livingspaceinoflife and limb!Heat, notthesaryfora healthy home!(Seefixturewasutilizedwith snow cold climates a heat above theroofer, was the problem.photo 5)cover on the roof, additional heat nd cooledliving space in warm cli- Another common, but u The heating, ventilating and nsatis- air onti on11 C nuedpage IO'