I have an older house, (one story brick with a crawl space and small utility basement) and since we bought it 5 yrs ago, a lot of things have changed or fallen apart. We added AC/Heat pump within the attic, and since the oil furnace in the little cellar croaked, we are relying on that for our main source of heat. (That's why we got a woodstove last year).
We replaced the 50 year old roof last year as well so the venting is different in the roof now (a continuous ridge roof vent with special intake vents in the bottom shingle since there is no soffit)
I am not sure if we are appropriately insulated in the attic considering there's a heat pump, and all the ducts up there, and the new roof. Conversely, the dirt crawl space under the house, which used to be kept dry and toasty due to the uninsulated ducts running down there for the furnace system, now seems cold and damp and occasionally seems to take some water. I am not sure whether it needs to be sealed better down there or vented better. It's not insulated under the house.
I am afraid if we ask a contractor for advice all we would get is a quote for a lot of $ based on what they would like to do. I am not adverse to spending a bit of money to have something done or to do some things ourselves, but I am just not sure what is needed considering the changes in the house. I just don't want to cause damage by doing the wrong thing nor do I want to throw money away by losing all our heat, etc.
Would it be a good idea to get a home inspector to come in and advise us on what might be needed? I have only had inspectors out when buying my house(s), but they did seem helpful. (Except for the guy who didn't tell us that the roof and furnace would go in the next two years....) I can't remember the cost for a home inspector though either!
We replaced the 50 year old roof last year as well so the venting is different in the roof now (a continuous ridge roof vent with special intake vents in the bottom shingle since there is no soffit)
I am not sure if we are appropriately insulated in the attic considering there's a heat pump, and all the ducts up there, and the new roof. Conversely, the dirt crawl space under the house, which used to be kept dry and toasty due to the uninsulated ducts running down there for the furnace system, now seems cold and damp and occasionally seems to take some water. I am not sure whether it needs to be sealed better down there or vented better. It's not insulated under the house.
I am afraid if we ask a contractor for advice all we would get is a quote for a lot of $ based on what they would like to do. I am not adverse to spending a bit of money to have something done or to do some things ourselves, but I am just not sure what is needed considering the changes in the house. I just don't want to cause damage by doing the wrong thing nor do I want to throw money away by losing all our heat, etc.
Would it be a good idea to get a home inspector to come in and advise us on what might be needed? I have only had inspectors out when buying my house(s), but they did seem helpful. (Except for the guy who didn't tell us that the roof and furnace would go in the next two years....) I can't remember the cost for a home inspector though either!