Barrie winters are long, and the snow that comes off Georgian Bay sits on your roof for weeks at a time. That makes the top of the house the place where comfort is won or lost. Good attic insulation keeps your heat in the rooms you live in. Poor attic insulation sends it up to melt the snow on your shingles.
Here are eight things Barrie homeowners can do before the deep cold arrives, starting at the roof and working down.
1. Read your roof after a snowfall
Your roof is a free heat-loss test. If the snow on your roof melts in patches while your neighbours’ roofs stay white, heat is escaping into the attic. Thick icicles and ridges of ice at the eaves tell the same story. We cover this in more detail in why your Barrie roof works harder all winter.
2. Seal the attic floor before anything else
Natural Resources Canada’s guide Keeping the Heat In: Roofs and attics says air leaks around chimneys, vents, plumbing pipes and electrical boxes can account for substantial heat loss and cause moisture problems. Insulation alone will not stop that air. Seal the gaps first. For a whole-home approach, ask about AeroBarrier air sealing.
3. Bring your attic insulation up to depth
Once the leaks are sealed, add depth. If you can see the tops of the joists from the hatch, you almost certainly need more. Our attic insulation service in Barrie uses blown-in material that fills around wiring and framing where batts leave gaps:
- Cellulose blown-in insulation for a dense layer that resists air movement.
- Fibreglass blown-in insulation for a lighter, cost-conscious top-up.
Not sure if yours is due? See the signs your Barrie attic needs an upgrade before winter.
4. Protect the eaves to head off ice dams
Natural Resources Canada warns that gaps in insulation around the perimeter of the attic floor let heat escape and can lead to ice damming near the eaves. The fix is full-depth insulation right to the edge, with vents kept open behind it. That is the job of attic baffles.
5. Deal with damp or mouldy insulation
Wet insulation does not insulate. If a past ice dam or roof leak has soaked part of your attic, that material should be taken out and the cause fixed before you add more. Read our post on attic mould and insulation removal in Barrie or go straight to attic insulation removal.
6. Warm up the floor over the garage
A bedroom above an unheated garage is often the coldest room in the house. Insulating and sealing the garage ceiling fixes it at the source.
7. Do not ignore the basement
Natural Resources Canada notes that basements and uninsulated walls can lose more heat than a typical attic. Rim joists are a good place to start, and spray foam insulation seals and insulates them in one pass.
8. Finish with the small stuff
Replace cracked weatherstripping, add door sweeps, and keep furniture off your heat registers. These jobs cost little and remove the drafts you actually feel.
What is it worth?
The U.S. EPA estimates an average saving of 15% on heating and cooling costs from air sealing and adding insulation in attics, floors over crawl spaces and basements (ENERGY STAR). That is a modelled U.S. average, not a guarantee for your home.
Rebates may also be available. Start with our guide to the attic insulation rebate in Barrie or the energy rebate page.
Get ready before the first big snowfall
The best time to look at your attic insulation is before the roof is buried. Contact us for an estimate and we will tell you what your attic needs.
