No attic in house

[Radar]

On the FHA appraisal of our house it said that they needed access to the attic. Only one problem with that, we have no attic. What will the FHA appraiser do now, just mark a box indicating no attic? Still waiting to hear from appraiser.

 

[Frederick]

On the FHA appraisal of our house it said that they needed access to the attic. Only one problem with that, we have no attic. What will the FHA appraiser do now, just mark a box indicating no attic? Still waiting to hear from appraiser.

When there is a cavity between the roof and the ceiling I photograph the gable and note the lack of access to that cavity. In the past the underwriter has usually required access be made. The owner typically cuts out a scuttle entry and I re-inspect.

 

[RSW]

Frederick is correct. The only thing is, access has to be provided before the appraisal can be completed.

 

[Radar]

The house has vaulted ceilings. Ceiling, insulation, and then roof. There is no cavity except where the insulation is, there is no open space.

 

[Riick]

?? And what about houses with flat roofs??
Yes, there might be 1 ft space between roof joist and studs that carry ceiling drywall.
Calling that an attic is a joke.

 

[PropertyEconomics]

Good luck doing that on a pueblo style home .... there is no access. I agree with Rick .... the definition of the space between the "roof" and the "ceiling" wont work.

 

[timd354]

?? And what about houses with flat roofs??
Yes, there might be 1 ft space between roof joist and studs that carry ceiling drywall.
Calling that an attic is a joke.

I agree.....if that was called an attic, then almost none of the tens of thousands of rowhouses in Baltimore and DC would have FHA loans as virtually none of these houses has an access scuttle to this area.....funny thing is that thousands and thousands of these rowhomes were financed with FHA loans.

 

[Radar]

The funny thing is we currently have an FHA loan on our house and when it was appraised when we bought it the attic issue never came up. So how does it come up now when we are trying to sell it?

 

[RSW]

A house with a vaulted ceiling may not have an attic. I've seen cabins with the same type of ceiling that do not have attics. No attic, no inpsection. But, if it has an attic area between the ceiling and the roof, it has to be inspected. Even if it is only one foot high. This topic seems to come up about every two weeks or so on this forum.

 

[Mr Rex]

There is often over 1 ft of space between the ceiling and roof of HUD code homes, but no attic. If they slap a modular label on the same house, guess what? Voila, a scuttle hole appears for access to the "attic".