Problems Lurking in the Attic
Your attic might be hiding more than just holiday decorations. From rodents and bats to outdated insulation and lurking mold, this often-overlooked space can pose serious health risks and damage your home’s structure.
In this episode, Jamie breaks down how pests can destroy wiring and insulation, why asbestos and old materials are a danger, and the importance of routine inspections. Learn how proactive attic maintenance can save you from costly repairs and keep your home safe.
Episode Highlights
- Top Pests to Watch For: Learn how rodents and bats can damage insulation, wiring, and your health.
- Hidden Hazards: Why outdated insulation, asbestos, and mold are serious risks in neglected attics.
- Inspection Tips: How regular attic check-ups can prevent costly repairs and structural damage.
- Proactive Safety Measures: Simple steps homeowners can take to maintain a safe, healthy attic.
Transcript
Welcome to Thoughts from the Crawl Space, a podcast where our goal as home inspection experts is to support and serve our community.
Speaker A:Whether you're a homeowner, home buyer, real estate agent or investor, we believe everyone deserves solutions to their homeownership challenges and inspiration along the way.
Speaker A:Your path to success starts here.
Speaker A:Welcome back, everybody, to another episode of Thoughts from the Crawl Space.
Speaker A:Today we're going to talk about a place that I bet you haven't been in in your house.
Speaker A:I could be wrong, but I don't think you hang out there at very often and that is your attic.
Speaker A:What about the hidden dangers in your attic?
Speaker A:We've had episodes before on the attic.
Speaker A:We've had requests to do more.
Speaker A:So we're going to dive into it again and do a few, maybe a deep dive into some of the dangers up there.
Speaker A:We don't want to be all gloom and doom and negative, but the fact is your attic has things going on up there that you don't know about, especially if you never go up there.
Speaker A:So I'm a home inspector and I have been in thousands of attics and I still have things happen to my own attic because I don't check my own attic out.
Speaker A:So I just want to give you some tips on what to look for, whether it's short term, long term, what you can do about it, and who to call if you need repairs made.
Speaker A:So that is where we're going to start with today.
Speaker A:So probably the biggest thing we see in addicts is replacement rodents.
Speaker A:Rodents like rats and mice, are common attic invaders.
Speaker A:These pests are, they're more than just an inconvenience, all right?
Speaker A:They can chew through wires, insulation, and even the wooden beams of your home.
Speaker A:The urine and feces can pose a serious health risk, potentially leading to diseases like hantavirus or leptospirosis.
Speaker A:Now what we see in addicts, if you have a vinyl sited house and you have the corners, typical corners on the house of vinyl siding, those are hollow and mice use those basically as easy pathways to get up into your house and into the attic.
Speaker A:And in the I, I would estimate 95 to 99% of homes that we inspect with vinyl siding that have any age to them are going to have evidence of mice up there.
Speaker A:Now, mice, the evidence of them is a couple of things.
Speaker A:Obviously they're, they're feces, little droppings here and there.
Speaker A:But more important is trails.
Speaker A:If you see a trail going through your, your attic, especially if you have cellulose insulation, those show it probably more than anything or if you see little holes burrowed in it, so you can see the holes in, in cellulose or fiberglass insulation either way.
Speaker A:But what they do is they make their whole, their nests down there.
Speaker A:And so you possibly will have one person in the house that has more sensitive ears than others.
Speaker A:They might even hear the mice chewing.
Speaker A:But what they do is they make their nests and then they just thrive and they reproduce.
Speaker A:And if you don't take care to take care of the rodents in your attic, they will literally eat you out of the house.
Speaker A:They won't necessarily damage it, but they create such an unhealthy situation in your attic that you're going to need to get your attic removed, your attic installation removed, cleaned, and then reinstalled.
Speaker A:And we definitely don't want that.
Speaker A:That's very expensive proposition.
Speaker A:Probably.
Speaker A:The cost to remove insulation and reinstall in the average house is going to be at least $10,000.
Speaker A:And so if you can avoid that, you definitely want to do that.
Speaker A:So here's a tip.
Speaker A:If you hear scratching noises in the attic or see droppings, it's time to investigate.
Speaker A:If you see signs of that on the main level of the house, I almost guarantee you have them in the attic as well.
Speaker A:They're going to prefer to be in the attic because that's, you know, away from you.
Speaker A:So if they burrow through the insulation, they're still going to get the value of the heat rising up through the drywall.
Speaker A:And they have that protection of insulation all around them.
Speaker A:So they can come here and go there and do whatever they want.
Speaker A:So if you hear scratching noises, you got an infestation.
Speaker A:Don't let it get to where you have to remove insulation.
Speaker A:Get up there, get a professional to provide traps, to set bait stations up, whatever, and.
Speaker A:And get that taken care of.
Speaker A:Another kind of danger you may have up there is bats.
Speaker A:Certainly other types of rodents can get up there.
Speaker A:Mice are by far the most common.
Speaker A:Squirrels, probably their most destructive.
Speaker A:They will eat through wires.
Speaker A:We've had homes, we inspected where half of the house didn't work as far as power.
Speaker A:The outlets didn't work, the lights didn't work, and it was traced to squirrels that had chewed through wires.
Speaker A:And that's just what they do.
Speaker A:Now.
Speaker A:You might find a fried squirrel, but they've done the damage and you have to replace the wire or at least have it repaired.
Speaker A:But bats, on the other hand, they're attracted to dark, quiet places, and your attic could be their ideal home.
Speaker A:Bats can get in through a hole in the shop at as small as a dime.
Speaker A:That seems hard to believe, but pest control folks have told me that.
Speaker A:And they can contort their bodies to get through, same as mice.
Speaker A:And so it really is difficult to keep them from getting out if you have gaps in your soffit.
Speaker A:Bats play a key role in the ecosystem by controlling insect populations.
Speaker A:And they also bring diseases like rabies.
Speaker A:So their guano, which is bat droppings, can build up, creating health risks and attracting other pests like beetles and flies.
Speaker A:So here's the thing with bats.
Speaker A:Bats are protected.
Speaker A:Bats are good for the environment, bad for your attic.
Speaker A:You want to get them out of the attic, it's going to cost.
Speaker A:Again, bat removal, very expensive.
Speaker A:Certain times a year.
Speaker A:You can't even remove them if they've just had their young and they're in your attic.
Speaker A:You literally have to wait till the young are old enough to be on their own before you can have someone come in and get the bats out of your attic.
Speaker A:They don't do it by exterminating them.
Speaker A:They put in a one way valve that allows bats to go out, but it won't allow them to come back in.
Speaker A:But they can't put those in if they have young in there because the young would die if the adults can't get back in.
Speaker A:So they're not going to destroy your wood, but they will drop piles of guano.
Speaker A:They will just create unhealthy conditions in your attic.
Speaker A:And it's very expensive to fix.
Speaker A:So the first two things we've talked about, rodents and bats, without a doubt the two most common things that home inspectors see in attics that are problems, more than structural problems, more than insulation problems, probably even, maybe even more than wiring problems, is rodents and bats.
Speaker A:So make sure you don't have them up there.
Speaker A:If you have any suspicions about it, call somebody to come look at it and check it out before it becomes an even bigger problem.
Speaker A:So if you suspect bats are roosting in your attic, don't try to remove them yourself.
Speaker A:Just call a professional who can safely relocate the bats.
Speaker A:And very important, seal up the entry point so they don't come back.
Speaker A:Number three.
Speaker A:And this is something that is pretty, pretty rare in this part of the country.
Speaker A:But in the south it's more common, and that's termites.
Speaker A:Termites are sneaky little critters that can cause major structural damage.
Speaker A:Around here we have subterranean termites and they will get into walls and that's wood.
Speaker A:And they can keep on going.
Speaker A:They run out of wood, they're going to keep Going higher and higher, they can get into your attic.
Speaker A:Now, it's pretty uncommon to see them up there.
Speaker A:Number one, the, the rafters are covered many times and we can't see them.
Speaker A:And getting clear up into the rafters is even harder.
Speaker A:Or that, you know, the roof structure itself is even harder.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:However, if you see small powdery wood around beams or hear a strange clicking sound, you might have a termite problem.
Speaker A:Now, powdery can also insinuate or be evidence of powder post beetles.
Speaker A:And that's a kind of a large genre of beetles.
Speaker A:Beetles that get their name by turning wood into powder.
Speaker A:Powder post beetles.
Speaker A:And most of the time you're going to see them in old growth lumber.
Speaker A:They got their name a lot of times by old posts outside.
Speaker A:And they just infest it, turn it to powder.
Speaker A:But you'll see it in barn beams.
Speaker A:You see it in older houses and they just, they do their damage silently.
Speaker A:It takes a while, but that's something to look for in an attic as well.
Speaker A:Not quite as common around here, but certainly a possibility.
Speaker A:Okay, so we've talked about rodents, we've talked about bats, and we've talked about termites or other wood destroying insects.
Speaker A:Now let's change the page to something that's not living and breathing.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:Old insulation materials.
Speaker A:Older homes may still have insulation made from materials like asbestos or fiberglass.
Speaker A:Asbestos was commonly used for insulating homes before the 80s, and it can be a serious health risk if the fibers are inhaled.
Speaker A:Now, this is primarily found in a material called vermiculite.
Speaker A:Vermiculite is a type of insulation that was, it's a mined product, means it comes out of the ground and it was contaminated from asbestos, which is also a mined product.
Speaker A: Now, in: Speaker A:Well, this was asbestos period in houses.
Speaker A:Vermiculae went out even before that in the 60s, but it's still in many homes out there.
Speaker A:The only way to know if you have asbestos in it is to get it tested.
Speaker A:So if you do that, we can do that for you.
Speaker A:Send it to a lab, they'll tell you what you have in it.
Speaker A:So we suggest, the EPA recommends if you have vermiculite, if you, you have asbestos in it, you leave it alone, leave it undisturbed.
Speaker A:So if you suspect your attic insulation contains asbestos, do not disturb it.
Speaker A:Have a professional contractor assess the situation and safely remove it.
Speaker A:If you.
Speaker A:This mostly becomes an issue if you want to renovate, move walls, you're going to be pulling ceilings down and this all comes down.
Speaker A:We don't want it airborne.
Speaker A:That's the big thing.
Speaker A:And so that's where it could be a problem for you.
Speaker A:All right, number two, under problems that aren't that don't have a heartbeat, mold and mildew.
Speaker A:Now, in actuality, mildew grows on plants.
Speaker A:Mold grows on everything else.
Speaker A:So keep that in mind.
Speaker A:We're primarily talking about mold here.
Speaker A:Attics can be damp places if there's issues with ventilation or leaks in the roof.
Speaker A:And when you have mold or, excuse me, moisture and darkness, you have mold.
Speaker A:Mold needs a few things to live.
Speaker A:It needs moisture, it needs food, and it needs air.
Speaker A:Notice I didn't say light, moisture, food, and air.
Speaker A:We cannot control the air other than the moisture level.
Speaker A:So we can control the moisture level, and we can't control the food.
Speaker A:You've got to have wood to build a house, right?
Speaker A:So if we can control one of those, we can help with the mold.
Speaker A:But it's something that is very common in attics.
Speaker A:Poor ventilation can lead to more ice damming, which creates more moisture, which can create mold.
Speaker A:So very common to have mold up there.
Speaker A:So get your attic checked regularly for signs of mold.
Speaker A:Look for musty smells.
Speaker A:Can green, yellow, white, black.
Speaker A:That's most of the common colors on mold growing up there.
Speaker A:So to review, we had mice or rodents, bats and termites.
Speaker A:Now, we just talked about old insulation materials such as vermiculite, which may contain asbestos and mold.
Speaker A:Another matter of safety in your attic is structure.
Speaker A:Like, that's the most important, right?
Speaker A:And one thing that affects this is, is roof leaks.
Speaker A:A leaky roof is one of the most common attic hazards.
Speaker A:And I guess I get asked all the time, how much longer does my roof have left?
Speaker A:Well, I can't tell you that.
Speaker A:I don't have the gift of prophecy.
Speaker A:Even if I did, it probably wouldn't apply to roofs.
Speaker A:How long do you want to fight it?
Speaker A:Do you want to fight it till the shingles are falling off the roof, or do you want to fight it?
Speaker A:As soon as it leaks, we're going to get a new roof.
Speaker A:Well, I don't think you need to do that, because even new roofs can leak, especially if they're not installed right or if they have a nail or two pop up.
Speaker A:But point being, you need to regularly evaluate your attic for potential roof leaks.
Speaker A:I had this in my own home.
Speaker A:I mentioned at the beginning of this episode that I have a problem inspecting my own house.
Speaker A:And I got a call from one of my children one day that showed me a picture of a large stain in My bathroom ceiling.
Speaker A:And I traced it to a one single nail that had popped up through a shingle.
Speaker A:And evidently for a few months or years, and water had been dripping in it.
Speaker A:Went through about a foot or foot and a half of insulation and soaked the ceiling and caused a stain.
Speaker A:That can happen in any kind of roof.
Speaker A:So don't think just because you have a new one, you don't need to check it out.
Speaker A:We find problems all day long, every day, with nail problems, flashing problems, plumbing vent, boot problems.
Speaker A:That can lead to leaking.
Speaker A:Doesn't even involve it doesn't mean your shingles are bad.
Speaker A:It just means the nails or flashing or any roof penetration is causing a problem.
Speaker A:Chimneys is a big area where we get a lot of moisture in around the attic.
Speaker A:So even minor leaks should be addressed promptly.
Speaker A:So here's a tip.
Speaker A:During the rainy season, keep an eye out for water stains on your attic ceiling.
Speaker A:If it's raining really heavy, go up in your attic.
Speaker A:I can't tell you the number of times over the years I've done an inspection on a house While it's heavy rain and we see a leak that we would probably not even come close to seeing if it was a dry day.
Speaker A:Right now we're in September, October, It's a typical dry season.
Speaker A:Hasn't rained for a while.
Speaker A:And you're just not going to see things that you would see, let's say, in November when the rains come and soak everything.
Speaker A:So it's important to the point of this is go up there quarterly and check for signs of a problem.
Speaker A:Go up there when we have a rainstorm and find out what's going on.
Speaker A:Another problem, obviously, in an adequate structure is sagging or weak rafters.
Speaker A:This is the skeleton of your house.
Speaker A:It's supporting your roof, the roof decking.
Speaker A:So if your attic is used for storage, the extra weight of boxes, furniture, or other items can put a strain on rafters and package beams.
Speaker A:Over time, this can cause the structural components of the attic to weaken or even collapse.
Speaker A:And it's crucial to store only lightweight items and keep heavy objects away from the center of the attic.
Speaker A:I'll say this Many attics are not designed to store items.
Speaker A:They're designed to support the load of the roof and drywall, and that's it.
Speaker A:And then homeowners will go up there and put sheets of plywood down and create storage.
Speaker A:And then they store a lot of things up there.
Speaker A:And that's why you'll see a long crack through the garage ceiling.
Speaker A:Not necessarily a huge problem, but it doesn't.
Speaker A:It does show that the flexing of the trusses or the lumber that they put up there is not really designed to handle extra loads other than supporting the roof.
Speaker A:So the other thing that over time really affects wood, and I'll just tie this in with point number three is poor ventilation.
Speaker A:We've talked about the moisture problem, right?
Speaker A:Moisture, structure, ventilation, heat and ventilation, and moisture and time will degrade anything and they degrade your wood.
Speaker A:You'll see many older houses that were built with 2 by 4 or 2 by 6 lumber for the rafters sagging.
Speaker A:They may not have proper midspan support, they might not have proper collar ties.
Speaker A:And so it has all led to some movement and they sag.
Speaker A:Well, it's not unfixable.
Speaker A:You're probably not going to undo the damage, but you can stop it from going any further.
Speaker A:And so make sure you go up in your attic now and then if you see any signs like that rafters sagging.
Speaker A:Oh, that one is too.
Speaker A:Well, we got a little bit of an issue going on.
Speaker A:And you can also look for anything that has broken many rafters when they dry out, especially if they've had a lot of knots in them.
Speaker A:They dry out, they crack, they break, trusses can come apart, the gusset plates can come loose.
Speaker A:And you just want to make sure you get that corrected before it becomes an even bigger problem.
Speaker A:Finally, if in the category of hazards in your attic, we've talked about living items, living, living things that create problems up there.
Speaker A:We've talked about mold, we've talked about poor venting, moisture structure.
Speaker A:How about fire hazards?
Speaker A:Fire hazards, probably the number one thing, right?
Speaker A:Number one is old wiring.
Speaker A:Old wiring in the attic can pose a serious fire hazard.
Speaker A:And we talked before about some of the critters that can chew on wiring that could be new, but the older type, like old knob and tube wiring or cloth covered wiring.
Speaker A:Look, they've been up there possibly a hundred years and anything after a hundred years is degraded and it's covered with insulation many times and it's holding heat and you can't see the wires because it's covered with insulation.
Speaker A:Just a lot of potential hazards.
Speaker A:Not trying to make you stay awake at night thinking of all this.
Speaker A:But I do want you to be alert to what can be happening up there.
Speaker A:If you suspect you've had a problem up there at any time with critters, you're definitely going to want to get the wiring checked.
Speaker A:It might be worth removing the insulation just to have the wiring checked so that you don't have any chewed wires or frayed areas.
Speaker A:Knob and tube wiring especially, that's older and very susceptible to damage.
Speaker A:And over the years, homeowners get in there and muck it up by trying to connect newer wires and just create a mess.
Speaker A:Another thing that can be a problem in an attic is flammable materials.
Speaker A:Believe it or not, things like cardboard boxes, old furniture, or even cleaning supplies, all which are highly flammable.
Speaker A:So don't put things up there that could create a problem by mixing.
Speaker A:I understand.
Speaker A:Want to store things in an attic, I do the same.
Speaker A:But if you have any of these materials in your attic, it's important to store them properly.
Speaker A:Think about chemicals and how hot they should be getting.
Speaker A:A lot of the bottles have warnings on them.
Speaker A:You know, you don't want to keep them in a hot car or be 100 above 110 or 120 degrees.
Speaker A:It can easily get that hot in the attic the summertime.
Speaker A:And that can create bulges in the bottles.
Speaker A:Swollen, they can leak and just create a problem for your, your attic.
Speaker A:So here's a tip.
Speaker A:Avoid storing highly flammable items in your attic.
Speaker A:Use plastic bins instead of cardboard boxes.
Speaker A:Especially if you have rodents, it's harder for them to chew through it and store them far away from any heat producing appliances or electrical components.
Speaker A:For example, if you have a furnace or a water heater flue coming through the attic, that's going to get hot.
Speaker A:You don't want to store anything against it and create a big problem.
Speaker A:So there you have it.
Speaker A:Some of the most common hazards lurking in the attic that could pose a serious risk to your home and health.
Speaker A:From pests to structural problems, fire hazards, the attic's a space that deserves regular attention.
Speaker A:Staying on top of these potential issues, whether it's inspecting for leaks, replacing old insulation, upgrading your structure a little bit, improving the ventilation, you can avoid major headaches down the road.
Speaker A:That's why we recommend any homeowner, not just somebody buying a house for the first time, any homeowner get their home regularly inspected.
Speaker A:We can do a maintenance inspection for a fraction of the price of a a regular whole house inspection.
Speaker A:We can cruise through these areas and see if there's anything you need to be made aware of, even though you live there and you think you know everything that's going on.
Speaker A:So give us a call.
Speaker A:We can help you out, give you peace of mind that you don't have things working up there that are going to cause bigger problems down the road.
Speaker A:Thanks for tuning into this episode.
Speaker A:Of Thoughts from the Crawl Space.
Speaker A:Be sure to check your attic regularly and keep it in top shape.
Speaker A:Don't forget to subscribe, share with friends and leave us a review.
Speaker A:Stay safe and until next time, take care of your home.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening.
Speaker A:This week you can catch up on the latest episode of the Thoughts from the Crawl Space podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Speaker A:For more information about Gold Key Inspection services, go to goldkeyinspect.com Sam.
