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
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