Most Ottawa attics are under-insulated and poorly ventilated, and it costs you twice – higher heating bills and a roof that fails early from heat and moisture. Bringing the attic up to a proper insulation level and balancing the ventilation is one of the best-value improvements you can make to a home in this climate.
Heat stops escaping through the ceiling, so your furnace works less all winter.
A cold, well-ventilated attic keeps snow from melting and re-freezing at the eaves.
Balanced ventilation lets heat and moisture out so the roof deck and shingles last.
No more freezing upstairs bedrooms and overworked heating.
People think of attic insulation and roof ventilation as two jobs, but in Ottawa they are one system. Insulation keeps your heat in the house; ventilation keeps the attic cold and dry so heat and moisture do not wreck the roof from below. Get one right and ignore the other, and you still get ice dams, condensation, and early roof failure. We handle both.
If your upstairs is always cold, your heating bills climb every winter, or you get icicles and ice dams at the eaves, your attic is almost certainly under-insulated and leaking heat. Topping it up to a proper level – and air-sealing the gaps around lights, hatches, and vents first – is one of the fastest-paying upgrades a home in this climate can get.
Because we roof and insulate, we can do both together. If you are already replacing the roof, correcting the attic insulation and ventilation at the same time saves money and gives you a roof-and-attic that finally work as they should.
For our climate, attics are generally targeted around R-50 to R-60. Many older Ottawa homes are far below that. We measure what you have and tell you whether a top-up or a full replacement makes more sense.
In an under-insulated home, yes – the ceiling is one of the biggest heat-loss paths, so bringing it up to level and sealing air leaks noticeably cuts winter heating. The exact savings depend on your home and current level.
It is half the fix. Ice dams form when heat escapes into the attic, melts the snow, and it re-freezes at the cold eaves. Proper insulation plus balanced ventilation keeps the roof deck cold and even, which is how you stop ice dams at the source.
Yes, and it is the ideal time. When we have the attic and roof open, adding insulation and correcting ventilation is more efficient and cheaper than doing it as a separate job later.