Q. We sold our home, and the buyers asked for an inspection. One of the things the home inspector listed for repair was the attic insulation. The inspector said that because we had installed flooring over the insulation that we had damaged the insulation.

We need the storage space the attic provides. Do you have any ideas as to how we can use the attic and still pass a home inspection? I don’t want to lose this buyer.

A. First, home inspectors do not pass or fail a home. Our job is to provide the buyers with accurate information so that they can make an informed decision on how to proceed with the purchase.

With the costs of energy increasing monthly, it would be important for the inspector to point out to the buyers that the insulation is damaged and it will cost more to heat the house in its current condition.

After the home-inspection report has been made, you can either make the repairs the buyers have requested, provide cash at closing for the buyers to make the repairs themselves or cancel the sales agreement. In most instances, the seller has the items repaired and completes the sale.

Most new homes have a loose-fill, blown-in fiberglass insulating material, which has millions of tiny air pockets that provide the insulating power of the product. If the insulation is crushed or compacted, there are fewer air pockets to provide resistance to thermal flow, and heat can escape through the attic.

The resistance to thermal flow is measured in R-values; the higher the R-rating, the better the insulating quality of the material. As an example, an R-30 rating is achieved by installing 12 inches of the loose-fill fiberglass material over the floor of the attic. The typical one-story home will have 2-inch-by-6-inch ceiling joists, so if you apply flooring on top of the joists, you will crush the insulation down to 6 inches thick and reduce the R-rating by more than half.

You can remove the flooring and add insulation to the crushed areas and let the new buyer worry about storage. Or you can add 2-inch-by-8-inch joists installed upright and perpendicular to the existing ceiling joists.

Add insulation under the new joists and then add flooring for storage. I often try to discourage buyers and homeowners from using the attic space for storage because of the added weight, which can damage the ceilings below. Also, the heat and infrared radiation can damage your stored treasures.

Ideally, the attic should be insulated by spraying expanding foam on the underside of the roof’s decking, leaving no need for attic-floor insulation. With spray foam, the temperature of the attic will be fairly close to the temperature of the home.

More information on insulating attics and R-values can be found at the Department of Energy’s website at www.ornl.gov/sci/roofs+walls/insulation/ins–01.html.