[NHoepner]

I have a question for the forum: I am trying to create some lower venting for my attic, which at present has only a few dormer vents and two gable vents that are near the roof peak. Nothing to bring air up from the lower part of the roof. I have installed solar-powered attic fans in two of the dormer vents and they seem to help, but I suspect they would be much more efficient if they could draw air from down in the eaves.

The problem is, my eaves have no soffit - behind the fascia the rafters rest directly on the wall, and there is a 22-inch piece of 2x4 between each rafter to block the opening. Nails and screws hold these pieces in from the ends, bottom, and top. There is only 11 inches of space between the fascia and these boards so it is hard to get at them. I've tried drilling and cutting holes in these things using a power drill and jig saw, and am having a heck of a time. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Ed the Roofer]

If you are willing to have some of the lower rows of shingles removed and replaced, then a Mid-Roof application of Smart Vent could be used.

That is assuming that the shingles can be matched and are still pliable enough to be able to install the new courses back under the course left remaining in place.

Check out this link:

http://www.dciproducts.com/html/midroof.htm

Also, check out Lomanco circular mini-vents for soffits, you should be able to get a drill with a hole-saw cut-out attached and have enough egress under the soffit and behind the facia to install quite a few of them.

Check them out here:

http://www.lomanco.com/ProductPAGES/CirkVents.html

Note: The 4 1/2" diameter version provides only 3 square inches of NFVA, so many will need to be installed to best avail the most amount of Intake Ventilation.

Ed

 

[NHoepner]

Ed:

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately my roof is curved concrete tile, so I can't really mess with adding vents in it. My main problem is just getting through those 2x4s in the eaves. I don't know if it is just that my drill is too weak (6 amp 1200 max RPM) or if I'm approaching the problem wrong. It just seems a lot harder to get through those boards than it ought to be.

 

[kwikfishron]

You can rent a drill. Buy a new forstner bit if you want to make it life easy on yourself. A spade bit will work but it will make you work harder as well. Stay away from a hole saw unless you enjoy getting hurt.