Do I really need roof vents / venting ?

16 years ago

I'm about to commence a total tear-off and re-roof on my 1880's upstate NY Victorian. From the HUGE attic, the original slats and underside of the cedar shakes are still visible (and beautiful, *sob*). It is my understanding that these original cedar roofs were able to "breathe". None of the older homes from this period or earlier that I have owned had venting of any kind. Of course, the cedar can no longer breathe, since 4 layers of shingles have been nailed on top.

The roof has 4 large gables. Two contractors have quoted the job, and both included ridge vents, but no soffit vents. I called one back and he'll add 24 3" vent disks to the eaves for $325. But I've just come from the attic and there's floor boards right to the edge of the roof all around, so the eave vents won't fly without cutting though the floor as well, and I feel things are getting out of hand.

I store all kinds of stuff up there. We've lived here for a year now, and it looks like this attic has done fine for 125 years without vents. There's a temp/humidity-controlled window fan with flaps installed, but it only runs on 90-degree+, sunny days in summer, and the only source of air for the fan is are the leaks in all the windows up there and a vent installed thru the attic door that pulls air from the house. We have no A/C, so there's always open windows during the summer.

So, back to my original question: Do I really need ridge and soffit venting? My research indicates I shouldn't have one without the other. I'd love to save the money and put it in the garden where I'm sure to enjoy it more!

And if I DO need venting, any ideas for alternatives to these round eave vents that might not work for me? And please, not box vents? I think they're ugly. It's a beautiful home!

Thanks!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

randy427
16 years ago
First of all, everything I've read says you need vents at the bottom (eaves or other) and at the top (ridge or gable or other vents) to keep from trapping ambient moisture from the air in yuur attic, thus making your ceiling insulation less effective and creating an excellent incubator for mold and mildew.
I saw one alternative to eave vents in (I think) Fine Homebuilding Magazine. It is a 1/2" thick vent 'mat' laid between two of the lower layers of shingles. A horizontal slot is cut in the roofing underlayment to enable the top of the vent mat to duct outside air into the attic. Basically the same principle as the ridge vent, only on the inlet end of the airflow.
User
16 years ago
Lack of venting in an attic will cause several problems. Higher heating/cooling costs, much shorter life of roofing materials, and build up of nasty smells/mold/etc. in the space.

Your research is correct---a ridge vent without Adequate soffit venting is useless.

Since you have venting---the fan is a vent system----it seems to me adding a couple inlets---with flaps activated by the suction of the fan---will provide all the venting the space needs. Just make sure you install screens on all the openings to keep out critters and debris.
Related Discussions
Replacing roof - vent or not vent? I'm SO very confused
Q
Comments (1)
I'm surprised no one answered your question. There are two issues here. One, insulating living space,or future living space. Two, addressing proper roof function. Soffit and ridge venting deal with the second but are complicated by the first. If the rafter bay is to be insulated, asphalt & some other roof materials require temperature control beneath them. The typical strategy is the use of "chutes" below the sheathing in consort with soffit/ridge. "Or should we have no venting and just spray everything with closed cell foam (or other foam spray)?" No venting, with any insulation sounds like trouble as regards issue number two. The advantage of the spray ins is inherent vapor barrier. Look into a new roof on sleepers with that plan. That would enable full depth insulation AND roof venting.
...See More
Do you need roof vents on new roof???
Q
Comments (4)
raee and others I don't agree.. why?? in 18yrs our power roof vent fan...runs just about all the time from mid april to mid october.. yes just passed sunup to after sun down..daily we have ridge vents and soffit vents(100%)..all installed when the house was built.. the powered vent fan was at my request from the builder..its set at 115F.. so soffit/ridge vents don't work as claimed..the build thought it was a dumb idea! please provide at least one research document from a non ridge vent maker to backup your claim..fyi I have looked into this matter and have found none! soffit vents don't help! ridge vents don't either! more insulation in the attic helped more! think i'm joking.. we installed reflextex($500) insulation on the roof rafters to help the ridge vents.. yet the fan still runs..even when it 75 outside..no I haven't change its temp setting to 15yrs.. so..back your claim with facts..i'd like to see them..prove me wrong.. -dkenny
...See More
Maybe I just need to vent about vents, but help is welcome too
Q
Comments (10)
I am looking strongly at Kobe, Electrolux, and also some others such as Zephyr, Faber, and Windster. The Windster is quite affordable. The Faber and Zephyr brands have some ones that have some 'rounded' design elements on the pipe area and front of the vent that look sort of nice. Gives a bit of personality to the hood, but not too much. Lots of my hem hawing has to to with what 'style' but the spec thing adds to the confusion. I look at them and try to imagine them over my stove and in conjunction with the other elements in the kitchen and after a while I am so addled that I shrink away from them all! I think that when you are in a remodel, all the decisions that you have to make begin to wiegh on you after a while and even little things can make you 'tilt'. I love my E-lux gas range - it was a find - a small scratch made it very affordable. Love my micro - an LG that looks like it was made to go with the range. Fridge is 'panel ready" - a challenge in my design where stainless would have made it easy. We will probably do something over the top like making leather or cowhide panels for it. We train horses for a living and as the saying goes, if you dont know what to do with it, cover it with cowhide. :) That is a challenge for another post and another day. Using rough slate on the floors - a natural and easy choice for us since we have a slate porch and lots of leftover tiles. Very interesting stuff and very tough. For now, however, the decision is about the range hood. It is gonna be focal, so has to be pretty. Cirone - you mentioned here that a 36 inch hood was put over a 30 inch range. How does that look? I have heard that it is recommended that the hood extend three inches out to give better capture area, but am not sure I would need to worry about that since I am not a major cook. I have ordered from Overstock and they were easy to deal with - made it right when my sink came dented. Ironically, Dianalo, I just talked to a sales rep at a Sears outlet yesterday and they have one chimney style Kenmore there with a scratch that makes it affordable. Long drive for me to check it out since I am in the middle of the woods but may have to go look. Would like to order online to make it quick and easy. Sparklekitty - Havent heard of Eurostoves so will have to look at them. Sounds as if they were good to work with. Artemis - which Kobe did you get? When it comes in, you will have to post about how you like it! Happy that you got your decision on that behind you as I know how hard the choosing can be! I am glad to see that I am not the only one that has gone round and round over this - thanks for all the feedback. Makes it 'feel all better'! :)
...See More
Do I Really need a stove vent-to-roof?
Q
Comments (5)
I agree with clinresga...especially with so powerful a range. My parents have no vent in their kitchen w/a standard gas range and the walls, ceilings, & cabinets around it are never clean. Unless you plan to wash your walls/ceilings/cabinets every day (or at least weekly), you will have the same problem. Once grease sits around for awhile (collecting dirt/dust & "drying"), it becomes very difficult to remove w/o damaging finishes. Recirculating vents do a little bit better job, but really only remove some odors via a charcoal filter and not grease...or at least not much. Reuse your existing hood if it's an externally-vented hood and is powerful enough. I know there's a rule-of-thumb somewhere...something like 10cfms/1,000 BTUs. So w/a 20K BTU range you would need a 200cfm hood...although I'd consider going a little higher. But, unless you plan on grilling indoors, you do not need a 900 or 1,200cfm hood. I also agree w/looking around. Check hoods like Modern Aire or Zephyr (many people here have these and really like them). Why will it cost $1,000 to vent? Does you contract not include venting outside? Or, is there some extra work needed that no one counted on? That's what happened to us...our contractor & KD initially insisted we had to recirculate b/a shower drain & vent were obstructing the path to the outside. When I told them recirculating wasn't an option, the contractor told us it would cost $4,800 to move the drain & vent! We got other estimates and ended up paying $950 to someone else. Our contractor wasn't pleased, but too bad...he was way out of line with his estimate! When a contractor does not want to do a particular job, he will often vastly inflate the cost hoping you will say "no." If you don't, then he at least makes an insane profit for doing something he doesn't want to do. I don't actually think this is the case for you, but I definitely think that's what happened to us. It's just something to keep in mind as you proceed with your remodel.
...See More
islandpete
16 years ago
If you live up north maybe and maybe not. If the house has lasted that long with out any ice daming and roof rot I'd not be too concerned. I lived in a house that was built back in 1826 in Ct and it had no roof vents at all. There was never any kind of rot at all. We just opened the windows all summer and it was fine. I now live in Florida and have 2 solar vents in the roof and two 120v fans on either end of the gables one pulling air in and one out. I have no eve vents and I have insulation right up to the eves. This house has been here since 1923 and with all my improvements it should last till the next ice age. Your biggest concern is ice daming and eve rot from snow build up. If you have this problem you might wish to fix the problem but if not save your money
brickeyee
16 years ago
"If the house has lasted that long with out any ice daming and roof rot I'd not be too concerned. I lived in a house that was built back in 1826 in Ct and it had no roof vents at all."

The attics in these houses probably leaked air like a sieve.
Sealing up under shingles will stop a lot of air movement.
mfrog
16 years ago
Our 1894 Victorian cottage did not have soffit vents per se, between the soffit & the wall (I can't for the life of me think of the name of the trim there) There was a 1/2" gap all the way along the soffit. From what I understand this was the venting. A restoration contractor I was speaking to now does his venting in this style, not just for soffits but beneath porches etc. He has had to train the building inspectors but they now accept this as proper restoration technique.
brickeyee
16 years ago
Gaps in the soffit (usually near the fascia) or between the roof deck and the top of the fascia were used for years as the roof ventilation area.
The code only says how much free area is required.
It does not specify how it is to be designed.

Do I really need roof vents / venting ?

Comments (6)

randy427

User

Related Discussions

islandpete

brickeyee

mfrog

brickeyee

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US