Attic Maintenance: Keeping Your Home Safe and in Optimal Condition

If you are like a considerable segment of the population in California and across the United States, you probably are not paying enough attention to your attic. The reality is that you keep your home safe and in an optimal condition by regularly inspecting your attic and undertaking appropriate maintenance. There are a number of reasons why appropriately timed and undertaken attic maintenance is extremely important.

Timing of Attic Inspections

You should undertake three types of attic inspections. Regular attic inspections are integral parts of overall attic maintenance efforts. The types of attic inspections you should consider undertaking are:

  • Monthly overview: On a monthly basis you should give your attic a once over. By personally taking an overall look about your attic on a monthly basis you put yourself in the best possible position of being alert to any issues that might be developing in the space.
  • Bi-annually inspection: In addition to a monthly overview of the state of affairs in your attic, you should conduct a more thorough inspection of your attic twice a year. This more thorough inspection needs to include everything from an examination of the state of insulation to a close look to ensure that no evidence exists of any type of varmint infestation.
  • Professional inspection: Finally, you should obtain a professional inspection of your attic every couple of years. Every couple of years is the outside of the professional inspection timeframe. As will be discussed shortly, a professional inspection can be timed with a thorough professional cleaning of your attic.

State of Attic Insulation is Vital

The regular attic inspection and maintenance process aids in ensuring that you are abreast of the state of the insulation in your attic. Some types of insulation to have fairly significant lifespans if left undisturbed. The reality is that in some instances outside factors come to bear on the state of attic insulation. For example (and as is discussed in a moment), rodents and other animals can infest an attic and do a number on insulation.

If insulation is not in prime condition, the climate of your home can be adversely impacted. You can face the prospect of increased heat in the summer and increased cold in the winter. As a result, your HVAC system is called upon to work harder, increasing your energy bills.

Cleaning and Clearing Attic Vents

On a note somewhat related to residential comfort and energy use, part of your regular maintenance efforts needs to be cleaning and clearing attic vents. The flow of air into your attic keeps the space from become stagnant. It also prevents an undue accumulation of moisture.

If the air in an attic becomes stagnant and then unduly damp, mold and mildew and thrive. When this happens, mold and mildew can damage insulation, among other elements and aspects of an attic.

Proactive Response to Rodent or Other Animal Infestation

Reference was made a moment ago to varmints that can end up infesting an attic. Examples of animals that have a propensity for making an attic home include:

  • Mice
  • Rats
  • Bats
  • Birds
  • Squirrels
  • Racoons

Whilst you might have some level of infection for some of these living creatures, they truly do not belong in your attic. Not only can all of these critters cause physical damage to your home, some also harbor disease that potentially can seriously jeopardize the health and wellbeing of your family.

An example of physical damage caused by animals includes the propensity of mice and rats to damage electrical wiring that tends to run through an attic. Rodents have incisors that grow throughout their lives. As a family of animals, rodents gnaw and chew on just about anything, including the covering on electrical wires. Indeed, this is such a common problem that about 25 percent of all residential fires in California and elsewhere in the U.S.A. are the result of rodents exposing live wire.

Regular attic maintenance results in the elimination of issues in your attic that might prove attractive to varmints. Routine maintenance also alerts you to the presence of a wanted critter in your attic before the number of such invaders increases.

Protecting the Health of Your Family

As noted previously, regular attic maintenance also aids in protecting the health of your family.  Mold, mildew, dust, rodent droppings, and other waste that can unnecessarily accumulate in an attic can pose health threats to the residents of your home. For example, rodent droppings can contain harmful bacteria and viruses. These germs have the potential for causing serious and even life-threatening illnesses in people.

Regular attic maintenance is crucial to ensure that these types of potentially hazardous materials are safely and appropriately eliminated from your home, reducing health risks to your loved ones.

Safety issues and potential harm associated with biohazardous waste that can be found in your attic underscores one of the reasons why professional attic cleaning (and associated inspection) is a wise course. Professional attic cleaning ensures that harmful substances like rodent droppings and mold are safely, effectively, and thoroughly eliminated from your attic.