Best Way to Reduce Heat in the Attic
QUESTION: I have a chalet-style house with about 2,400 square feet of living space. About 100 square feet of that space is attic. The rest is divided between floor-level and loft-living space. The attic gets extremely hot in the summer. What’s the best way to reduce the heat in the attic? Should I use a ridge vent, an attic fan or a roof-mounted ventilator?
ANSWER: Two items of concern regarding attic ventilation are moisture controlling in the winter and heat removal in the summer. Without ventilation, an attic’s summertime temperature can easily build to over 140 F. Since removing heat requires more air movement than removing moisture, the venting system should be designed for summer conditions.
From an energy conservation point of view, a ridge vent with continuous soffit vents is the most efficient since it relies only on air convection.
However, if your main concern is to reduce the heat buildup, then you might try a thermostatically controlled roof-mounted ventilator. The thermostat is set to the temperature at which you want the attic fan to start, usually around 95 F. From our experience, we’ve found that during the summer, attics with power vents were not as hot as those with ridge vents.
Lightening Color on Clapboard Siding
Q: I recently purchased a ranch house with cedar clapboard siding that was painted with a dark brown semi-transparent stain (Cabot’s Cordovan Brown.) Is there any way that I can lighten up the color of the siding?
A: Cabot’s has three types of stain in terms of pigment content. The thinnest, and the one that absorbs into the wood most is semi-transparent. The next thicker stain is semi-solid, and the thickest is solid.
Because semi-transparent has the least pigment in it, the less likely it is to hide a darker color. We recommend you apply a couple of coats or semi-solid or solid stain, such as a beige.
Vines on Walls Can Damage a Building
Q: I recently purchased an old brick house that has one side covered with vines. I don’t know whether I should let them grow or remove them so they won’t damage the wall. Do you have any recommendations?
A: Many people feel that vines enhance the beauty of a building and don’t care about the problems they create. Although aesthetically pleasing, vines are undesirable because they can conceal termite shelter tubes, nesting insects and cracked mortar joints. They can widen cracks, loosen shingles and crush downspouts. Also, the dampness associated with vines promotes rot in framing and wood trim.
If you decide not to remove the vines, keep them trimmed away from the roof edge, gutters, downspouts, windows and wood trim. To remove the vines from brick, carefully cut the vines away rather than pulling them off, which can damage the brick and mortar joints.
The suckers that attach and hold the vines to the wall will be left on the wall. Wait about two or three weeks until they dry up and turn dark. Then remove them with a stiff brush and some laundry detergent. Don’t wait too long before removing the suckers as they may rot, oxidize and become so hard that removing them will damage the wall.
