Monsters In The Attic Update

Well, I think I put the kybosh on those noisy attic monsters.

The most difficult part of the business was actually getting up there: the only access to the space under the roof is through a trap-door in our closet ceiling. I don't have a ladder long enough to reach it, so I had to stand on a step-stool and hoist myself up. Well, I'm not exactly 22 anymore....

Once up among the rafters, my chief fear was that I'd bring the whole ceiling down through stepping on the wrong bit. Nontheless, it held up and I was able to get to the two heat vents. The first was a piece o' cake - some WD-40 all around the moving parts and the noise was quickly reduced to a whisper.

The second one turned out to be one of those irksome surprises that show up from time to time in older houses with previous owners. Apparently, it had been causing too much noise for quite a while because somebody, at some point, had jammed a cardboard tube through its spokes. Evidently, the summer sun had heated the aluminum sufficiently in the past few years to burn right through the cardboard - it had been sliced in half and was charred all about the slice marks. I cleared the cardboard out and tried to WD-40 the metal. But despite the fact that I used about three fourths of a can, the thing still cavitated loudly in the wind. So I did the next best thing and lashed it down with wire. Hopefully, we'll hear no more of those nasty monsters.

As I mentioned previously, I understand that one can buy flat-paneled heat vents these days. Furthermore, they're electric - you can flip them on in the summer when you want the heat dispelled and flip them off in the winter when a coat of hot air above the upstairs bedrooms wouldn't be such a bad thing.