HOME OWNERSHIP 101: The things everyone else forgot to tell you!

You have received this electronic newsletter either because you asked to, or because you are a recent client of Sherlock Homes Inspection, Ltd. If you have received it in error, please accept our apologies and let us know at matt@inspectmichigan.com . We'll get you off the list right away.

Welcome to Watson's Journal!

Back in July, I promised that I would talk a bit about energy conservation. I hear and read lots of people once again telling folks to seal up their homes to prevent heat loss. If you have an older (pre 1975) home, you can probably get away with sealing every air leak you can find. The ones you don't find will usually let in enough air to supply your furnace, water heater, dryer and bathroom fans with the air they need. If your home is newer, it may already be fairly tight, and further sealing may be counter productive.

This is not a simple issue. Without specialized testing, it's hard to know if your house is getting enough fresh air, or too little. (Too much is fairly obvious; high heat bills, lots of cold drafts, etc.) The signs of inadequate air supply are the same as the signs of excess humiditiy. Black mold on windows and window frames means that your interior humidity is too high. Is this because you have too many humidity sources, or inadequate ventilation? Turn off the humidifer's water supply valve, and start using those bathroom exhaust fans. If this doesn't solve the problem, then the problem is likely to be inadequate ventilation, and you need to have a heating contractor install a make-up air duct. This is a tube about 4" around that connects the return duct on your heating system to the outdoors. It looks like a dryer vent on the outside. Whenever the furnace's blower is running, this duct allows a measured amount of outside air into the system. In other words, a controlled leak! In addition to providing a fresh air source, it also increases the barometric pressure inside the house, so your combustion appliances will be less likely to backdraft. It can even reduce radon levels in some homes, but I would not depend on it as a total solution to a radon problem. These make-up air ducts are standard equipment on may recently constructed homes.

Adding attic insulation is usually the most cost-effective way to reduce energy loss. If you have less than 6 inches of insulation, adding more will pay off reasonably soon. Be sure not to add a vapor barrier when you add insulation. A vapor barrier is a layer of foil, plastic or treated paper that should be present on the warm side of the insulation. (Against the ceiling in most attics.) An attic needs exactly one vapor barrier, no more. Water vapor diffusing from the living space should be slowed down or stopped by this membrane. If you add a second vapor barrier on top of the existing insulation, then any humidity that gets past the first one gets trapped in the old insulation, causing it to pack down and loose effectiveness. In extreme cases, this can cause wood rot in the attic, but this is a rare condition. If you are adding insulation over existing insulation, choose a type that has no vapor barrier of any kind. Blown-in fiberglass and cellulose are good choices, and economical, too. The newer white fiberglass material that comes in a pink plastic envelope is more expensive, but much easier to handle. The plastic is micro-perforated, so it does not function as a vapor barrier. Owens-Corning Miraflex is one brand of this product. When you are installing this or any other attic insulation, remember to stop the insulation at the top of the exterior walls. DON'T stuff insulation into the eaves! They should be open for free movement of air from their vents.

On to other subjects. This is time-change month, so we all have a list of little projects to do. Change the smoke-alarm batteries. If you have a digital thermostat, change its battery too. Then, just before you adjust your clocks, go to the main electrical panel and cycle all the breakers off and on, to ensure they are not stuck. Be sure to have a flashlight with you when you do this.

Other fall items? Gutter cleaning can be a major chore, but a very important one. The gutters should be cleaned after the majority of the leaves are down. If you have areas on the roof where leaves get trapped, such as behind chimneys or where gables come together, those areas need sweeping out now. Am I advising you to go climbing up on your roof? Never! Do what you can from the ground or a ladder, and hire somebody competent (and insured!) for the dangerous stuff.

Lots of gardeners like to mulch shrubs at this time of year. Be careful about piling wood chips, leaves, etc. up against the house, especially if you have wood siding. The mulch becomes a veritable zoo of critters, from mice to molds, including ants and earwigs. The more of this you have close to the house, the more uninvited guests you'll be entertaining. Even an earwig can figure out that it's better to spend the winter in a warm house than a pile of rotting wood pulp.

This newsletter is a 2-way street. If you have any questions or concerns, please use this e-mail link to let us know.

Presented by Sherlock Homes Inspection, Ltd.
http://www.inspectmichigan.com

copyright 2000 Matthew J. Bezanson