Is Your Attic Exposed During a Roof Replacement?

Very often, homeowners ask us about if the items in their attic will be damaged during a roof replacement.

One of the questions in that same vein, is: “Will my attic be exposed during the roof replacement?”

In this blog, we’ll talk about when your attic may be exposed during a roof replacement, what kind of risk that poses to your belongings, and how you can protect your attic!

Is Your Attic open While Work is Done on Your Roof?

Having work done on your roof will inevitably create some mess, definitely outside of your home, and potentially inside. Whether or not your attic, and valuables will be exposed depends on the extent of damage done to your roof decking. Roof decking is the layer of OSB or plywood that attaches your roofing material (asphalt shingles, metal panels, etc) to the frame of your home.

If several pieces of your decking need to be replaced as a result of water damage or rotting, then that portion of your attic will be exposed to the open air as they are being replaced. Thankfully, in most roof replacements that time frame is pretty short, and occurs after the previous roofing material has been torn off, and before the new materials are put on.

However, if your decking doesn’t need to be replaced, then your attic won’t be truly exposed during any part of the replacement.

Will Stuff in my Attic be Damaged During a Roof Replacement?

Our attics are often used to store the things we don’t use in everyday life, and don’t want to get rid of, so they could be pretty valuable items that we want to keep safe.

As such, it’s perfectly reasonable to be worried about the damage that might happen to them as a major construction project unfolds a few feet above.

Though they won’t be exposed for long during the roofing process if you have decking replaced, there’s still a risk that these items might get damaged. mistakes happen, and it is always better to be safe than sorry.

But how exactly do you protect them from potential damage?

How do you Protect Your Attic During Roof Repair?

The best way to protect the items in your attic is actually to remove them from your attic. If you have any small valuables that are easy to move, that will likely be right course of action for them.

For larger items, however, it likely isn’t worth the hassle to carry them out of your attic. In these cases, the best thing to do is to cover them in tarps, so that any dust that’s stirred up during the replacement doesn’t collect on it.

Additionally, if you have anything that might be liable to falling over, or off of something else, it’s a good idea to put it on the ground, or lay it down. All of the hammering during the replacement will cause lots of vibrations, and could cause something like that to fall over.

Feeling More Ready for Your Roof Replacement?

After reading this blog, hopefully you are starting to feel more comfortable with either finding out more about getting a roof replacement, or feeling more ready for a roof replacement that you have coming up!

If you’re wanting to learn more, check out some more of the blogs on our learning center, or reach out to us using the “Contact Us” button below! On Tops Roofing has been replacing roofs in the Raleigh area for over 30 years, so whatever your roofing project will require, we have the tools to help!