What up with the insulation on the roof decking??

The south side of my garage is in bad shape.  The north side is fine. Why is this?  I think I found out what is going on. The previous owner went insulation crazy on the inside of the garage. About half of the interior is sheetrocked with insulation. The other half is open studs.  The space between the rafters is insulated as well, but it may be causing some issues.  Most builders will agree that in order to insulate open rafter spaces, a styrofoam spacer should be used.  This allows air to flow from the soffit area, up the channel created by the spacer, then out the roof vents or ridge vents.  This garage has two issues.  First, it has insulation installed in the rafter spaces that is attached right to the bottom of the roof decking.  No air can flow and it's a great way to quickly ruin the roof. It get's extremely hot with the sun baking it and no air flow underneath. 
 In addition, there are not any soffit vents!  It's old, so that may explain it.  There are no roof or ridge vents either. The prior owner(s) chose to mount two powered fans in each gable end to pull the air out. This seems like a waste on energy to me and I'm not thrilled with the noise created.  So, bring on the plans!  I am ripping down the insulation and will install some soffit vents.  I will then reroof the structure and add some rectangular roof vents to let that air flow.  For insulation, I will put up a ceiling and insulate on top of that.  This will give me the airflow I need AND keep the space cool in the summer and warm in the winter. 

Do you have any ideas for this situation?  Any comments? If so, let me know.  I would be happy to discuss this with you.

Clean gutters, dry basement!

When we were viewing this house, we noticed some spots in the northwest corner of the basement where water had been seeping in . At first glance, I blamed it on a missing window well cover.  After moving in, this was my first maintenance issue to attack!  If you know me, I get information crazy and obsessive.  A bit of investigation outside led me to the problem.  First, the gutter downspout extension on that corner of the house was missing.  The water was draining directly into the foundation line.  Not good.  Easy fix though.  Picked up a 4' section of aluminum guttering and one elbow.  This projected the extension about 5' from the house onto a slight grade AWAY from the home.  Job done!  Not quite.  Fast forward a few weeks and I still notice some water coming in the basement. During a heavy rainfall I discovered water dripping, no gushing, form the top elbow.  Clog!  As soon as the rain was over and lightning no longer a threat, up the extension ladder I went.  I found a lot of debris in the lower level and upper level guttering. Mostly pine needles, which are very good at forming dams and creating blockages.  After clearing the gutters, downspouts, and elbows, the drainage was great.  No more leaks, no more water in the basement.  Don't underestimate this chore.  Try to have your gutters cleaned at least twice a year.  It's especially important to get them cleaned in the spring, before the "April showers" and the fall, before the snow starts to fly.  For service, call up Freeflow Gutter Cleaning @ 217-918-1826.

Welcome, read the first post!

Welcome to my first blog, Room to move!  I wanted to start a blog to document everything that involves our house.  Our family has grown to 4 children, two adults and one cat.  Prior to moving to this house in May 2011, we all lived in a 950 square foot, 3 bed, 1 bath, ranch.  It was tight and there was definitely NO room to move there!  A blog title is born.  Anyway, I hope you come back and check it out.  I'll be uploading some before and after pics and documenting any projects that go on.  The house is 1920 Colonial Revival style home.  Over the years it has been remodeled a few times, including an attic conversion to a master suite.  It's slated at 2300 square feet on a basement, first floor, second floor and third floor!  I've become interested in the home's history and I intend to do some research on that and post  here.  For now, adios.  Thanks for taking time out of your busy life to check it out.  Check back often for more updates!