Home Improvement and Maintenance

[Huntn]

The local storage unit place just raised their rates again. I have a 10x10 which has gone from under $100 to almost double that. I might as well spend $200 a month on a loan for that vs $200 to those money grubbing bastards.

Does anyone have an air conditioned Attic?
if so I'd like to know. Spray foam applied to the roof rafters.

• how much it cost to install?
• if there are any warnings or caveats?
• and how pleased are you with it?

 

[DT]

Our attic is closed up, and has an AC vent, so we're able to keep things up there that could possibly be damaged on an unfinished space. The air handler is up there too, as well as two light and also handy, a regular 110v outlet (super helpful when I've needed to use the shop vac up there).

No idea about the cost as it was like this when we bought it, but it is very nice to have. We've got lots of things in plastic tubs, but other things sort of out in the open, like my comics in cardboard boxes, that would get decimated just sitting on plywood in an unfinished space. Keep in mind, the access is usually through rafters, that have pretty tight spacing, plus going up and down a ladder. We swapped to smaller tubs a few years ago, they hold less per container, but are way easier to get into the attic (this is stuff that moves up and down every year like various holiday decorations.

One thing I'd suggest: put in a return (for the AC). Home HVAC systems work - and I'm sure you know this - by removing the hot air, cooling it down, and blowing it back into the house. That hot air extraction (or cold air in the winter) is critical, and even more so in a closed space, with extra, more concentrated heat.

 

[Huntn]

Our attic is closed up, and has an AC vent, so we're able to keep things up there that could possibly be damaged on an unfinished space. The air handler is up there too, as well as two light and also handy, a regular 110v outlet (super helpful when I've needed to use the shop vac up there).

No idea about the cost as it was like this when we bought it, but it is very nice to have. We've got lots of things in plastic tubs, but other things sort of out in the open, like my comics in cardboard boxes, that would get decimated just sitting on plywood in an unfinished space. Keep in mind, the access is usually through rafters, that have pretty tight spacing, plus going up and down a ladder. We swapped to smaller tubs a few years ago, they hold less per container, but are way easier to get into the attic (this is stuff that moves up and down every year like various holiday decorations.

One thing I'd suggest: put in a return (for the AC). Home HVAC systems work - and I'm sure you know this - by removing the hot air, cooling it down, and blowing it back into the house. That hot air extraction (or cold air in the winter) is critical, and even more so in a closed space, with extra, more concentrated heat.

What do you have up at the rafters that make up the roof, batt insulation, rigid foam, or spray foam? This area, the first time I considered it and now, I am reluctant to seal it off where it becomes inaccessible, while realizing that it has to be sealed if you want this area relatively cool.

 

[DT]

Just some batt tacked up on the walls, and at one end is an opening, just a cutout with a plywood cover screwed on (definitely keep some kind of access to the rest of the unfinished attic).

It's not like a super finished space, ducts in/out of the air handler, insulation could be improved a good bit, we just used it as is.

 

[Herdfan]

What do you have up at the rafters that make up the roof, batt insulation, rigid foam, or spray foam? This area, the first time I considered it and now, I am reluctant to seal it off where it becomes inaccessible, while realizing that it has to be sealed if you want this area relatively cool.

Here is what I did.

I have a 9/12 hip roof with the top of the peak at around 18'. I built knee walls on 3 sides at the point they were 4' tall. The 4th wall is 10' high. I then made joists at 10' tall across the rafters. I screwed 1" rigid foam board to all surfaces and then covered it all with 1/4" drywall. Taped all the seams and spray foamed the bottom (did this on the rigid foam before I installed the drywall) At the end with the 10' wall, I added an old interior door I had sitting in the warehouse to provide access to the rest of the attic. Nothing is covered up to the point it can't be accessed.

I have HVAC vents in the garage (I know, against code, but I didn't build this house) so I tapped one of them and extended it up to the attic. This adds a little heating and cooling so the room stays under 80 in the summer and over 50 in the winter.

 

[mollyc]

i have a photography studio above our garage. the garage is separated from the two story main house by a one story mudroom. from the street the garage looks detached but it’s not.

the studio is fully finished with a full bath (no closets so technically not a bedroom) so more than you are looking for. the hvac is a mini split system because the mudroom is only a crawl space and ducting above the garage was difficult.

i’m pretty sure there is just regular bat insulation in the walls/rafters but we later had spray foam but in between the garage ceiling/studio floor after a pipe froze one winter. luckily we figured it out before it burst and out builder came over with a hair dryer and thawed the pipe.

but look into a mini split system.

 

[Huntn]

One issue I can see is that our attached-integrated garage is un-insulated and gets hot in the summer. This is a one story house and the attic covers the entire space including the garage. The floor of the attic where the garage would have to be insulated which would be doable.

You might ask why not insulate the garage too? The outside wall is finished and it would be an extra mess to remove the drywall to apply the insulation I assume is not on the outer wall. This is doable too, just more work.

My goal would be to prepare the attic first and I could possibly do it myself, but I need to research how much thickness insulation would be needed to be effective. The last time I insulated was when I refinished our master bath, and there I used a combo of 2” and 1” rigid foam On the outer walls, and filled the cracks with spray foam, then covered it all with drywall.

The attic would become a tolerably warm storage space, so it would not need to have a finished appearance, but I do believe I’d have to get some AC circulation up there. I’ll be contacting contractors soon to see what the commercially installed space would cost versus the hassle, but savings of doing it myself. The attic is tall enough that being on a ladder would be required along with the flooring to support it.

I wonder if placing insulation in the roof rafters has any adverse effect on the roof and shingles as far as accelerating breakdown of the shingles based on heat? Or those shingles are hot anyway, what is the difference to them?

 

[mollyc]

have you considered blown in insulation? they make little holes every so often and blow in loose insulation through a tube. then you just patch the holes, rather than pull out all the drywall and reinstalling it.

 

[DT]

This seems like the place to post this.

We have GOT to get a whole home filter setup. The sediment keeps wrecking the hot water heater (it's fine now after an R&R on the coils, but only a matter of time), plus all the other plumbing, appliances, not to mention general health considerations, better tasting tap water (vs. always using the fridge filtered water), etc.

Looks like Aquasana, specifically their Rhino series products. They're modular, so you can get different protections, I suppose add on later, but I'm looking to do this once. Something like this (though I might not buy from Home Depot):

Aquasana Rhino Series 6-Stage 1,000,000 Gal. Whole House Water Filtration System with Whole House Salt-Free Water Conditioner THD-1000-BUNDLE - The Home Depot

Protect your home and appliances and drink healthier, cleaner water with this bundle. Rated for up to 1,000,000 Gal. , the system reduces more than 97% of chlorine present in tap as well as reducing other

www.homedepot.com

 

[citypix]

This seems like the place to post this.

We have GOT to get a whole home filter setup. The sediment keeps wrecking the hot water heater (it's fine now after an R&R on the coils, but only a matter of time), plus all the other plumbing, appliances, not to mention general health considerations, better tasting tap water (vs. always using the fridge filtered water), etc.

Looks like Aquasana, specifically their Rhino series products. They're modular, so you can get different protections, I suppose add on later, but I'm looking to do this once. Something like this (though I might not buy from Home Depot):

Aquasana Rhino Series 6-Stage 1,000,000 Gal. Whole House Water Filtration System with Whole House Salt-Free Water Conditioner THD-1000-BUNDLE - The Home Depot

Protect your home and appliances and drink healthier, cleaner water with this bundle. Rated for up to 1,000,000 Gal. , the system reduces more than 97% of chlorine present in tap as well as reducing other

www.homedepot.com

Our local water supply also has a lot of sediment, though it tastes great coming from snow melt a couple hundred miles away from the Sierra Nevada mountains. Thus we didn't need any filtering to deal with taste. Just needed to keep out the sediment that could mess up our tankless water heater and faucets.

I ended up going with a single Pentair 10" Big Blue filter housing and 50 micron pleated polyester filters. I change them 1-2 times a year. So far so good. Pentair also makes a larger 20" housing and filters, but didn't think that was necessary for a two person household.

 

[DT]

Oh yeah, that's good information. That system I linked above is very likely overblown for our needs, I was just starting with the worst case cost, and figured I'd work back from there (and that system has $799 versions that are single tank).

I don't think there's so much a taste issue as probably some psychological impact knowing the water contains sediments (calcium and magnesium).

Filter maintenance isn't a huge deal, heck, if I'd be happy to change it 4-6 times a year if it made a huge impact (assuming the filters aren't more than ~$100).