bill's quest
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2009
- Messages
- 29
- Reaction score
- 0
I posted recently on a new roof installation, but thought to break this out as a separate topic...
How do you test to see if the attic is adequately venting? The contractor's response is,"You have ridge vents, heat rises, don't worry." Well, we know how short sighted this is...and he eventually gets that one has to consider intake, too. So,his next response is, "You have continuous soffit vents, we used a blower (from the outside) to blow out any obstruction, don't worry." The problem with this is that the lourve vents have been compromised by paint, not too bad but still covered with paint and some places clogged, and that this is 40 yr old 3-12 pitch. Then I did what his crew was to do but kept avoiding... I crawled into the attic and sampled a few places along the eaves. The insulation is mounded near the eaves but not over the vents and there is about 3-4 inches of clearance. So, this is encouraging, but should I consider that I am getting good ventilation? I don't want just minimum ventilation....the last roofing job left me with a lot of warped planks.
So is there is a simple smoke test or is there a standard for temperature differences in the attic vs outside temp?
The soffits are 3 feet wide. Should I just rip out the old vents and put in new ones?....A few contractors look puzzled when asked to bid on this. They talk about taking all the plywood to do the job...since the vents are secured from the inside.
How do you test to see if the attic is adequately venting? The contractor's response is,"You have ridge vents, heat rises, don't worry." Well, we know how short sighted this is...and he eventually gets that one has to consider intake, too. So,his next response is, "You have continuous soffit vents, we used a blower (from the outside) to blow out any obstruction, don't worry." The problem with this is that the lourve vents have been compromised by paint, not too bad but still covered with paint and some places clogged, and that this is 40 yr old 3-12 pitch. Then I did what his crew was to do but kept avoiding... I crawled into the attic and sampled a few places along the eaves. The insulation is mounded near the eaves but not over the vents and there is about 3-4 inches of clearance. So, this is encouraging, but should I consider that I am getting good ventilation? I don't want just minimum ventilation....the last roofing job left me with a lot of warped planks.
So is there is a simple smoke test or is there a standard for temperature differences in the attic vs outside temp?
The soffits are 3 feet wide. Should I just rip out the old vents and put in new ones?....A few contractors look puzzled when asked to bid on this. They talk about taking all the plywood to do the job...since the vents are secured from the inside.