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Repairs
Attic Repair and Upkeep
Nobody goes up there until something is wrong. We repair and look after attics: insulation, vents, air sealing, the hatch, and the water damage a roof leak leaves behind.
01The Work
An attic has to breathe and stay dry.
It happens most winters. A brown ring shows up on a bedroom ceiling near an outside wall, and the roof gets the blame. Why? Sometimes it isn’t the roof. A bathroom fan that blows into the attic instead of outside puts warm, wet air against cold roof boards, and the water drips back down through the ceiling.
Insulation keeps the heat where it belongs. Vents let the attic dry out. Air sealing keeps the damp air from the house out of it in the first place. When one of the three is missing, the other two don’t work as they should.
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Insulation
Flattened, wet or chewed insulation taken out, and new insulation laid to the depth the space calls for.
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Ventilation
Soffit and gable vents cleared, rescreened or added, with baffles at the eaves so the insulation doesn’t block the air.
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Air sealing
Gaps around pipes, wires, flues and the attic hatch sealed before any new insulation goes in.
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Water damage
Once the leak is fixed, stained or soft wood that isn’t load-bearing is replaced, and the ceiling below is patched and painted.
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The hatch
A hatch that closes tight, weatherstripped and insulated, and boards laid where people need to walk.
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Animal entry
Torn vent screens and gaps at the eaves closed. A licensed pest control company deals with the animals.
Who does what
We manage the whole job and coordinate licensed trade partners. Our crew repairs the roof leak. New roof boards, a ridge vent or a re-roof are done by a licensed roofer we bring in. A bathroom fan or a light that needs wiring goes to a licensed electrician.
Rafters, ceiling joists and anything else load-bearing go to an engineer and an appropriately licensed contractor. Our B-2 license sets that line, and we’ll tell you when a job crosses it.
02Done Cheaply
Why more insulation isn’t always the fix
The cheap fix is more insulation blown over the top of what’s there. It covers the soffit vents, the attic stops drying out, and the damp gets worse.
Second, insulation goes in before the air leaks are sealed. The warm air from the house keeps finding the same gaps, now under a thicker blanket.
And third, a ceiling stain gets painted over while the leak above it is still there. The stain comes back, and the wood behind it has been wet the whole time.
03How We Work
How the crew goes about it
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Look first
We go up with a light and look at the vents, insulation, roof boards and framing, and at every stain.
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Fix the cause
Our crew repairs the roof leak, and fan ducts and wiring go to licensed trade partners, before anything is covered up.
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Seal and repair
Air leaks sealed and water damage repaired while the attic is open and easy to reach.
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Insulate and close up
Insulation in, baffles at the eaves, vents clear and the hatch sealed. The ceiling below is patched and painted.
Start with a look in the attic.
We’ll go up, tell you what we find and what we’d do about it, and write it into the estimate. We work across the Bay Area Peninsula.