Useless Ridge Vent?

itwerx2

We had a continuous ridge vent installed when we replaced our old roof. Did not have one before.

When I went into the attic to see how it looked from the inside, I could not see the vent. And when I turned out the light in the attic it is pitch black- no light coming in anywhere at the ridge.

Here is a picture inside the attic looking up at the ridge and towards one side of the house.. The three boards together (darker looking wood) form a beam all the way across the ridge from side to side.

Sure seems like a ridge vent is wrong for our type of construction since the beam inside seals off the ridge.

Opinions appreciated.

Attached Thumbnails

 

AtlanticWBConst.

Not saying this is def. the case (tho, it looks like it)......

..... but, did they...possibly......attach the ridge vent...without cutting out the actual ridge sheathing....????

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Ed the Roofer

When you have a wide ridge beam or multiple ridge boards, the specifications require the slot cut out to be slightly larger than typical. I can not tell from your photo, because it is on an angle, but it does not appear to have the slot cut out past the ridge boards.

It should be, but I defer to the ridge vent manufacturers exact specifications first. They may not allow a slot so wide as your situation.

Ed

itwerx2

Ed- no, the slot does not extend beyond the ridge boards. No space between the boards and sheathing.

Atlantic WB- as far as I know, the sheathing was cut. Would have thought the crew would have stopped the installation when they saw the boards there. But I've heard that finding this situation is not that rare and the crew usually just goes ahead.

AtlanticWBConst.

Ed,...yes...that could very well be the case... ..

..that is a larger sized ridge beam....

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itwerx2

So at this point it looks like we will be getting rid of the ridge vent and adding some square vents on the roof.

What is the best way to deal with the slot that was cut for the ridge vent? Should metal be put on to form a new ridge before the cap shingles? Other recommendations? Thanks.

Ed the Roofer

You could piece it in with a same width of new plywood to fill in the gap. One sheet at 3" wide will get you 128 lineal feet.

You can also have the contractor come back out and do his ridge vent correctly.

Get the specifications from the manufacturer of that particular brand of ridge vent from their website.

Ed

the roofing god

usually we would shim the sheathing slightly higher on the beam so the air flow would reach the ridge vent

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Ed the Roofer

Good advice TRG, but a little out dated.

See the date on the OP.

It still may help somebody else though.

Ed

the roofing god

since I saw you guys didn`t have a solution, I threw it out there,figuring someone else will run into it again

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Ed the Roofer

Besides your alternative and very costly solution, the better one would have, at that time, have the contractor come back out and cut the slot to the proper width as per the alternative dimensions provided by the manufacturer, when encountering a ridge beam, which was already suggested.

Ed

the roofing god

no silly,he should have had the contractor come out ,remove the r.v.,shim up the plywood and reinstall it,the cut would be too wide for the ridge vent to sit right,and to have enough lap as water protection

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tinner666

See it often and I think it was Shingle Monkey had one of his guys make the same mistake: The bevel wasn't set on the saw so the cut would be perpendicular to the ground! Just setting the bevel 45~ will give 3/4" more airflow.

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Frank

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the roofing god

it was a triple wide beam frank

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Ed the Roofer

I thought it was a double until your post # 12 when I looked closer at it, so I decided to shutup.

Ed