How long has it been since you’ve set foot in your attic? Well, that just might be too long. Attics tend to be out of sight, out of mind. Many homeowners haven’t been in their attics in years.
And according to a survey recently performed by the Chubb Group, 10% of homeowners admit to having never been in their attics!
But your attic isn’t a part of your home that you want to ignore. That’s because lots of potential problems that can impact your entire household can take root in your attic. So it’s recommended that you at least take an occasional stroll through your attic, patrolling for minor problems before they become major fiascos.
Here’s what you’ll want to watch for:
Repulsive Rodents
You may not care much for your attic, but rodents absolutely love it. Pests such as squirrels, rats and mice think your attic is a perfect place to live. But they’re certainly not desirable tenants.
Apart from the potential health problems from droppings and urine, rodents can cause real damage to your home. They love to chew on electrical wires. And if that happens, a temporary power outage is the best-case scenario you can hope for. The worst-case scenario? Rodential wire gnawing may spark a fire that burns your home to the ground. It’s happened to many unfortunate homeowners.
System Slip-Ups
Many attics play host to equipment vital to the home’s heating and cooling, ventilation, and electrical systems. You can head off major trouble by routinely inspecting the portion of these systems that are based in your attic.
You’ll particularly want to keep an eye out for plugged drains that are intended to route water outside the home. Air conditioning systems, for example, generate water from condensation during the process of cooling air. And a simple blockage in a drain line could potentially result in thousands of dollars worth of damage to your home.
Storage Stupidity
Attics are commonly used for storage. While many items will do just fine in the attic, it’s not a great place for storing just anything and everything. In truth, the typical attic offers a rather harsh environment for storage due to extremes of temperature and humidity. Items such as photographs, clothing, luggage, and antique furniture are all routinely stored in attics. And all will fare poorly in an attic environment.
So on occasion, it’s a good idea to take a stroll through the attic, and survey the items in storage. Any items of questionable fragility and/or great value – sentimental or monetary – should be moved to a more hospitable environment for storage.
Go Ahead; Take a Peak Up There…
If you haven’t ventured into your attic in a very long time, it’s time to take a look at what’s going on up there. Hopefully all is well. But any problems that may be developing will only get worse, and in the long run may prove to be quite costly.
It’s true that any rats or squirrels that have moved in up there may resent the intrusion. But it’s not as if they’ve signed a lease ensuring privacy!