Short of me removing all the wonderful soffit work I did, is there anything I can do? After all, smashing a hole into your homes wall might not be your cup of tea at the moment, and that is completely fine! Passive vents will work great with a ridge vent! Exhausting the roof with a smartvent or eyebrows? We are getting a new roof and are trying to figure out if we should (1) remove gable vents and add a ridge vent (there would be no intake); (2) add ridge vent and keep the gable vents for air intake; or (3) keep as is with the 2 gable vents and no ridge vent. Whats surprising is that there is evidence of moisture (drips probably from snow melt coming in on roofing nails) but there was barely any mold in the attic to the surprise of roofing contractors, remediators and others weve had do work in the home. Soffit may keep moisture out without vents, but it also keeps any moisture inside the attic and so on from escaping. Soffit vents come in several sizes and styles, including small round discs and rectangular grilles. Also does the roofer has to provide you with the exact calculation of the ventilation needed? Using a venting drip edge is a very common alternative for those who do not have existing soffit vents or simply do not have the right roof layout to add them. 9 times out of 10 its gonna come from your leaky attic floor. If you notice water dripping from the vents, you can set up a breathable shield to help obstruct driving rain, without blocking the vents. Due to their nature-reliant construction, they are super energy-efficient and can save you some serious money when it comes to your homes energy expenses. So we did. The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. What would you recommend? We are moving quickly to replace the 1950s Balsam Wool insulation (maybe R2 value) with new fiberglass and heat shield foil on attic floor and then replacing the three-tab roof with GAF architectural shingles, probably black. Adding these to your home is likely something you can do on your own if you do a bit of reading up and have a tall enough ladder. The only air inlet (since no soffit vents) is a couple of gable vents. I will eventually insulate under the roof deck as well as insulate and air-seal the attic floor. 2 months later, I had a new roof installed. Ridge vents work their best in combination with soffit vents. If its a gable style roof, Id go with ridge vents. So you have no soffit. Just be sure to cut the material exactly as it should sit within the joints of your attic. I am getting mixed signals from those in the home building industry and the internet, some telling me not to install both gable vents and maxi roof vents as they conflict with each other in getting hot air out, some telling me just gable vents or just maxi roof vents. If your attic is warm and warms the bottom of a cold roofline, you can create condensation with the right conditions so I would caution you against this. Ventilation is an absolute must when it comes to your attic and maintaining your home. These vents allow hot air to escape the attic as it rises to the peak of the roof. But if you have no intake, where is the ridge vent going to draw the air from? We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Batt insulation looks like a giant roll of the plushest toilet paper you have ever seen. To ventilate your attic without soffits you can use gable vents, eyebrow vents, a venting drip edge, a shingle-over intake vent, wind turbines, or power vents. Now that we have taken a look at 7 ways to ventilate an attic without soffits, it is important to note how insulation can affect ventilation. A venting drip edge is actually pretty easy to install as well and very often, only takes a little bit of grappling with your roof to get the job done. I have FOUR dormers mid-level of the attic, and a large fan, not used, with about a 3 ft by 2 ft area at end of attic that is positioned to move air out of the home. No place to install soffit vents. I would start by adding soffits and letting it all completely dry out. Rafter vents ensure that there is a clear channel for outside air to enter the attic through the soffits. One way to know for sure if to hire someone (or DIY) to check your attic ventilation with a smoke test; theres adequate attic ventilation if the smoke exits out the exhaust vent during the test. Attic ventilation helps draw hot air outside during the warmer months of the year, and reduces ice sheeting and ice dam build-up during the winter months. I need help! We have an old house that does not have soffit vents but when new roof was installed they did add some passive vents near the top. Thank you for your time. Theeaves stick out about 1.5 feet wide. An experienced roofer should be able to help you make a plan. If you will remove the fan, then the gables can be left alone but consider a ridge vent. They work great in the summers, but should not be used alone in the wintertime because they are not great with removing moisture- something that will dramatically change the overall effect of ventilation. You can even add it on top of an old shingled roof, so its easy to install and durable to work with. Lee has over two decades of hands-on experience remodeling, fixing, and improving homes, and has been providing home improvement advice for over 13 years. Should I be worried for possible mold growth down the line? The ductwork has been sealed and insulated. You can check if your attic needs better ventilation by touching the ceiling of the floor below on a hot day. More info here: Fully insulating conditioned sheds or buildings. All are good alternatives if you cannot install soffit vents; however, a very important factor for good ventilation is good insulation. Were thinking of either: 1. significantly lowering the gable vents on either side and maybe making them a bit bigger 2. or installing GAF Cobra edge vents although this makes me nervous, as it means cutting significant slits in the roof and seemingly has to be done just right to work properly and not leak. I do not have any soffit venting installed and am not able to install any. There are other reasons a homeowner would want to install soffit vents. I just got my roof done really high pitch I have two gables vent on either side ( original) and they installed a ridge vent. Id look at adding some lower side intake vents. . Ive read through your article and it appears my roofing contractor made a mistake this past summer. However, if you are more like me, then hiring someone to do this for you would have been the most idealistic option. Your house - your attic is not properly ventilated because you don't have any way for the air to get in the bottom." TOM: OK. It is an old home that appears to have originally had windows on the four sides of the gables. Definitely AIR SEAL the attic floor. Im wondering what to do? Yes, take the fan out! They ended up using batts to insulate my rafters. However the mold is a concern, so Id recommend either checking yourself or hiring a professional to come take a look at the attic floor and find the weak spots where air could be leaking through so they can seal them up. Another option for homes that have no place for intake vents would be to use a modified solar fan. Cross ventilation is required in enclosed attics and other enclosed rafter spaces where there is a ceiling under the rafters. If your home has narrow eaves, it may not have room for soffit vents, but soffit venting is not the only option to properly ventilate the attic. They're most effective when used in conjunction with a continuous ridge vent. Wind turbines are placed along the gable of your home and are also one of those great ventilation systems that are two-in-one. How Much Cooler Can My Attic Be After Installing a Radiant Barrier? Although this may be a place of storage for you, it is the first step to stopping air from escaping. Move insulation away from the soffit with rafter vent baffles. I understand that this is an old post and I hope you can help me. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. To ventilate your attic without soffits you can use gable vents, eyebrow vents, a venting drip edge, a shingle-over intake vent, wind turbines, or power vents. So, if your attic is 20' x 40' then the area is 800 square feet. Our attic had a big mold problem that was just remediated. Do not block attic vents in winter. On a small shed that size, a ridge vent wont make a difference compared to the existing gable vents. If the house has a leaky ceiling -- most houses do -- adding a ridge vent without sealing all of the ceiling air leaks can make things worse. I bought a 1930s house with a detached 3 car garage. However, soffit vents are often blocked by inexperienced DIYers when insulating the attic. We just moved into a house in Connecticut that has been neglected. Another point: we are about to put in a new roof, so I wonder if some type of intake installed with the new roof would be better? Thank you. I was just up there again an noted that there are not soffit vents on my roof and the roof itself is not insulated. Even though ventilation is a must, there is one more thing that is going to keep your home protected and get your attics ventilation functioning at peak performance: insulation. We have 3 roof vents, 2 gable vents, a roof fan and a ridge vent. I I have eaves but am not sure if they can soffitted or we should add low gable vent. ( I.e. If I were to open them back up and install windows in similar locations would that work? Without a continuous flow of outside air, the attic heat in the winter will melt ice and snow at the top of the roof, which will flow down and refreeze when it reaches the cooler bottom of the roof. This is great for the summertime, but when it comes to winter, there is nothing worse. Is that correct? In a nutshell, yes, soffit vents prevent moisture from doing bad things to your home. BEST SOLAR OPTION: iLIVING Solar Roof Attic Exhaust Fan. Adding airflow will help drop the air temps in the garage, so if you plan on using it to work in, that would be a good idea. Get help with your home improvement projects. Remember, your main goal is to get air moving through the attic by entering the attic space down low near the overhang/eave level and leaving the attic near the peak of the roof. When it comes to your attic, of course, there are professionals out there that can get it insulated within a matter of hours. The openings in the material should be no less than 1/16 inch and no more than 1/4 inch. Center nails between rafters 18 in. Attic Ventilation Without Soffits Homes without room for soffit vents usually use gable vents or shingled vents to take advantage of passive ventilation. It should be ok, even though this is untraditional (insulating a non-conditioned space with r-value). I had additional blown insulation added, although I was told by the insulator that my R value was already quite good and that things appeared to be sealed properly in the attic. Your email address will not be published. Remember, you want more entry points at the perimeter (bottom) edge of the roof than you want at the exit points at the top of the roof. If it will be the fan, then the gables should be closed and you need to add soffit venting. I added about (20) 3 diameter vents, then installed vented soffit covers. I cover how AtticFoil can help with ice damming on this page: How SuperPerf Helps Prevent Ice Dams on Your Roof Hope those resources are helpful to you! The roof has continuous soffit vents but no ridge vent. Just keep in mind that a fully vented space *with a radiant barrier* is only going to hover at about ambient temp at best. Loose insulation is used for those really pesky areas that are hard to cover. More info here: Basics of Attic Ventilation. For an attic without soffit vents, you may have the option to use gable vents instead. Without proper ventilation to keep things cool, the excessive heat and humidity can prematurely age shingles, warp and distort roof sheathing and cause mold and mildew growth. Hello! Focus on the other ventilation you have in the attic. thanks. Long term solution? We currently have two gable vents that are too high to create any airflow from the bottom up and strangely, we have a ridge vent even though we dont have soffits. Especially hard driving rain that is whipped about by heavy winds can enter the roof vents. Options include using a metal screen wire to create a barrier outside the vent, investing in flexible roof sealant to fill any holes or gaps around the vent, and replacing nearby flashing and shingling to prevent rain water from seeping through worn or damaged parts of the roof. 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