Problem , Cleaning attic??

[hereonceagain]

We just had our roof done. Tons of crap fell into the attic space. How do I clean that? There is insulation up there so my husband thinks we cannot vacuum the crap out without messing up the insulation. He thinks we should just leave the dirt. But won't that shoot out of our heating system some?

[wawa]

what kind of insulation do you have? batts or loose fill?

But either way, your air handler intake shouldn't be in the attic - it should be in the house, so there's no reason your heating system would suck up the dirt. (Fox will correct me if I'm wrong here I assume)

[hereonceagain]

Nov 15, 2012 7:25:36 GMT -5 wawa said:

what kind of insulation do you have? batts or loose fill?

But either way, your air handler intake shouldn't be in the attic - it should be in the house, so there's no reason your heating system would suck up the dirt. (Fox will correct me if I'm wrong here I assume)

I don't know what type of insulation. We do have two air intakes in the ceiling in the house so you are probably right. But I just feel like all that dirt and dust will find its way in our house somehow. Especially if there's a windy day.

[FoxInFiji]

Nov 15, 2012 7:25:36 GMT -5 wawa said:

what kind of insulation do you have? batts or loose fill?

But either way, your air handler intake shouldn't be in the attic - it should be in the house, so there's no reason your heating system would suck up the dirt. (Fox will correct me if I'm wrong here I assume)

Yeah there shouldn't be any air intake or exhaust into the attic. I'm assuming that you're talking about the furnace/air handling unit being in the attic. But as long as the debris didn't damage the ductwork (if you have flex make sure there is nothing sitting on top of it creating a pinch point for example) or dent the unit or plug the condensate/drain pan (this shouldn't be exposed to the attic but stranger things have happened) you should be fine. I would try to crawl around up there and pick up big pieces but little stuff just forget about. You don't want the big stuff compressing the insulation too much because it looses it's R-value that way. The attic is kind of a no man's land and what roofers/contractors leave up there will be there for forever. There are probably dead mice/squirrels/insects up there if you have an old house so some random debris is no big deal.

[hereonceagain]

Nov 15, 2012 10:56:33 GMT -5 FoxInFiji said:

Nov 15, 2012 7:25:36 GMT -5 wawa said:

what kind of insulation do you have? batts or loose fill?

But either way, your air handler intake shouldn't be in the attic - it should be in the house, so there's no reason your heating system would suck up the dirt. (Fox will correct me if I'm wrong here I assume)

Yeah there shouldn't be any air intake or exhaust into the attic. I'm assuming that you're talking about the furnace/air handling unit being in the attic. But as long as the debris didn't damage the ductwork (if you have flex make sure there is nothing sitting on top of it creating a pinch point for example) or dent the unit or plug the condensate/drain pan (this shouldn't be exposed to the attic but stranger things have happened) you should be fine. I would try to crawl around up there and pick up big pieces but little stuff just forget about. You don't want the big stuff compressing the insulation too much because it looses it's R-value that way. The attic is kind of a no man's land and what roofers/contractors leave up there will be there for forever. There are probably dead mice/squirrels/insects up there if you have an old house so some random debris is no big deal.

Thank you!! I doubt I will go looking now with the mention of dead animals lol, but maybe I can convince hubby

[wawa]

Nov 15, 2012 10:40:13 GMT -5 hereonceagain said:

Nov 15, 2012 7:25:36 GMT -5 wawa said:

what kind of insulation do you have? batts or loose fill?

But either way, your air handler intake shouldn't be in the attic - it should be in the house, so there's no reason your heating system would suck up the dirt. (Fox will correct me if I'm wrong here I assume)

I don't know what type of insulation. We do have two air intakes in the ceiling in the house so you are probably right. But I just feel like all that dirt and dust will find its way in our house somehow. Especially if there's a windy day.

As to type of insulation: I assume you've peeked into your attic, right? to see the dirt? Does the insulation look like a fluffy layer of fake snow (or dirty snow as the case may be) or fluffy pink or gray blankets?

And for the rest - it won't. I promise. How would it get in?

[hereonceagain]

Nov 15, 2012 11:11:48 GMT -5 wawa said:

Nov 15, 2012 10:40:13 GMT -5 hereonceagain said:

I don't know what type of insulation. We do have two air intakes in the ceiling in the house so you are probably right. But I just feel like all that dirt and dust will find its way in our house somehow. Especially if there's a windy day.

As to type of insulation: I assume you've peeked into your attic, right? to see the dirt? Does the insulation look like a fluffy layer of fake snow (or dirty snow as the case may be) or fluffy pink or gray blankets?

And for the rest - it won't. I promise. How would it get in?

It's not blanket looking at all, more fluffy like.

[wawa]

Nov 15, 2012 11:13:42 GMT -5 hereonceagain said:

Nov 15, 2012 11:11:48 GMT -5 wawa said:

As to type of insulation: I assume you've peeked into your attic, right? to see the dirt? Does the insulation look like a fluffy layer of fake snow (or dirty snow as the case may be) or fluffy pink or gray blankets?

And for the rest - it won't. I promise. How would it get in?

It's not blanket looking at all, more fluffy like.

OK, then yeah there's really no way to clean that. The dirt just is what it is. If it were batts you could pick them up and gently shake them off a bit.