Month: October 2015

Dangerous attic repairs

I set anchor points in the attic rafters and suspend myself inside the fragile soffit using a climbing harness. This is pretty scary. The soffit is only 30″ wide, and illuminated just by my headlamp.

Although I have already put an end to the troubling raccoon infestation, this portion of my attic has been previously inaccessible. It’s clear that the insulation below me is still contaminated, and the vapor barrier on inside of the wall has been clawed-away by the raccoons.

While suspended from the rafters, I spend 9 hours removing the contaminated insulation and carefully building a structurally-sound rat run that hangs independently inside the soffit. This is overkill, but at least I’ll never have to dangle from the rafters ever again.

Making the attic right

My dad generously donates another Saturday to help me work in the tight spaces of my attic. Together we remove 4 more bags of contaminated insulation.

We also install new insulation inside the wall and bottom of the soffit.

Maintaining the cedar siding

The cedar siding of the dining room addition is rather weathered, so Amáda and I stain and seal it.

Later, I re-hang a gutter which is angled away from its downspout.