How to Protect Your Roof & Keep Your Home Cooler & Dryer, Recovering An Office/Computer Chair

How to Protect Your Roof, & Keep Your Home Cooler & Dryer-

Last month I had a feeling that our attic power fan wasn't working, again. Don't ask me why! It vents out the hot air and moisture in the summer. I was right and after Dave called the manufacturer, Broan, the tech support person told Dave way too many home don't have enough ventilation. Many sadly either cover their passive roof or gable vents thinking they're letting cold air in in the winter, but forgetting about letting the attic breathe and letting HOT air out. Dave took a look at our 2 attic gable vents and realized they were probably quite a bit too small. There are several free website calculators that will let you figure out how many square feet of ventilation you need per the size of your attic. He found a great deal on 2 brand-new ALL Cedar gable vents for $10.00 at the Habitat Store. Usually they are about $100. EACH or more :)  What a deal!!! Anyway, upon removing the old vents he found they had been sealed inside with tar paper, during the construction-

Vent completely covered with tar paper under the siding!!!

Dave said he's heard of siders getting mad at the roofers so they cover up vents. Talk about stupid!

Gee, no wonder we burned out 3 attic fans! It was a vacuum with no air movement and running 24/7 in the heat. This can cause roof curling if not fixed as well as moisture issues. The roof curling can happen from excessive HEAT when you don't have enough ventilation so it has somewhere to go. No on WANTS to put on a new roof when it can be prevented. If you live in the high desert, like we do, the moisture isn't quite so critical. So, Dave put in a new motor, 2 gable vents (with some help from me!) and we are happy there's no roof damage. Sadly Dave got about 8 yellow jacket stings, as there was a nest under part of the siding!!! Yikes, lots of ice and Cortaid later, he survived. I gave him Benadryl at bedtime, since he wanted to finish the job and not be drowsy. He caulked and since it's weather-proof we're leaving it until next year when we paint the house. I have since got an Epi Pen just in case!!! 

Dave said a HUGE amount of hot air came pouring out when he opened it up!!! 

The site of the nasty yellow jacket nest!!! :(

Several websites said you can NEVER have too much ventilation. Since heat rises, even in the winter, along with moisture, it needs somewhere to go. We've also noticed our attic fan isn't running as often, even on today's 100 temps, so that will save $$$. It's good to check and make sure your vents aren't covered as ours were! Lesson learned :) Thanks Dave for your help with the wording!

All done!

Recovering An Office/Computer Chair-
After I recently updated our kitchen I was looking at my ugly computer chair, which stuck out like a sore thumb-

Ew

I had seen a lot of how-to Pinterest ideas on how to cover these. I had some leftover navy blue (pics are lighter) linen upholstery-weight fabric so I decided to cover it! I wanted it to look fitted, nice and tailored. I basically pinned it to fit and cut, no pattern required-

First fitting, fabric inside out

I had to leave a vent for the knob too

1st test fitting, too loose...

2nd fitting looking better!

Dave took the back and arms off for me, and I stapled down the fabric. 

I had to remove the black mesh cover first underneath, easy with an Exacto knife. I did have to have a seam on the seat, which I double stitched.

test run, fabric stuffed under the top piece

knob exposed

Back looking good!

The top was the toughest part, with the curved top, took 3 tries. I also decided to whip stitch by hand the bottom of the top section. Much more fitted! I LOVE it! And ZERO cost for me, took about 3 hours total...