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venting my roof properly

3K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  MLMIB 
#1 ·
So I'm new to home ownership, just bought my house July 30th. This weekend is the big "fix the problems" weekend before the move in.

First on the list is venting the soffits and attic. The house has a dormer in the back half of the attic, with the front half being not finished. It has an HVAC vent up there but I'm guessing/hoping its turned off and it has a few power outlets, but there is no drywall or finished lighting.

The soffits currently are not vented at all (and paint is peeling). The home inspector told me the roof has a ridgeline vent but I don't know how to verify that. And, to make matters weirder, there is insulation on the roof, which initially everyone told me is bad since it doesn't allow for airflow. BUT, after looking at a section that fell I can tell that the insulation is the pink panther type and it's stapled up leaving 2-3 inches of space against the roof allowing air the race up to where the ridgeline vent might be from where I plan on putting in the soffit vents.

So, questions....

1) how do I verify the ridgeline vent?

2) is this a good setup or does the whole venting system need to be open to the rest of the attic?

3) currently there aren't any of those pieces of plastic that leave a channel for air to race up, should I take down the pink panther insulation and install some of those? they'd be less space, but would be a formal setup I guess.

4) there is an open vent hole in the unfinished part of the attic, should I patch that up/cover it, or is it ok to leave that open?

and I think thats a good start.

Thanks in advance for the advice, I tried searching but wasn't able to get quite the answers I'm looking for.

-Mike
 
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#2 ·
1) how do I verify the ridgeline vent?

If it's a shingle over type ridge vent, the ridge caps will be elevated half an inch or so by the vent. There are also aluminum stand alone ridge vents, but they often leak and are not very prevalent anymore besides being ugly.

2) is this a good setup or does the whole venting system need to be open to the rest of the attic?


Inlet is necessary for the outlet to be effective. If there's an HVAC system in the attic, the insulation is in the right place.

3) currently there aren't any of those pieces of plastic that leave a channel for air to race up, should I take down the pink panther insulation and install some of those? they'd be less space, but would be a formal setup I guess.

The air chutes would be the right way, but you need some soffit vents for them to be effective.

I don't understand question 4.
 
#3 ·
To clarify question 4, the part of the attic that is unfinished, The part with insulation but no drywall, has a vent that has a wire currently passing through it for the tv antenna and it looks a bit like one I could put an attic fan in on. The question is if that is helping or hurting me? Should I cover it as best I can since there is hvac and electricity in that area, or should I work to use it as a further vent? Is it necessary to further vent?
 
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