attic ventilation

The soffit vents can be added. Make sure air is not blocked by insulation. There are foam or cardboard "chimney vents" you can purchase to tack onto the underside of the roof so the insulation can butt up against the roof. Attic fans are not energy efficient, require maintenance. Reconsider the ridge vent.

yeah ridge vents cost nothing to operate generate no noise, reuire no maintence.

most homes here are getting them as they are re roofed, get used to the look, its a sign of energy efficency.

when you want to sell your home ridge vents are a plus, for the above reasons.

So your roofer is trying to sell you venting, what makes you think you need more venting? Do you have mold growing on the wood, is the insulation moldy. and not from roof leaks, because if you dont have moisture problems visable your Gable vents have been doing their designed job, venting. My Gable vents have kept my roof beams and attic fine for 110 years.

The roofer is not trying to sell me venting. I think I need additional venting because the living area in my house get humid in the fall/winter/spring when it is to cold to open the windows or turn on the a/c. I have not seen any mold anywhere in the attic or basement.

BTW, one gable vent is on the north face which gets hammered by weather. This vent leaks water during extreme rain showers, it is over the garage and only happens during huricaine-like rain so I am not to concerned but do you know a way to fix this?

m Ransley wrote:

The humidity inside is unrelated to the attic if you dont have moisture issues in the attic, I would think. Your living space is sealed from the attic it is not open , right. My high humidity issues were my basement which better gutters and a dehumidifier fixed since my house is tight construction. I had water comming in my gables also. I made a deflector or rain shield outside and inside a deflector from the bottom up, so rain flows back out. A first sign of inadequate venting is mold which you say you don`t have. Are you in a rainy area, is your basement real damp, when I cut basement humidity 20% it drops the upstairs by apx

If you're re-roofing and don't want a ridge vent why not put in roof vents. I re-roofed last year and the roofer recommended and installed 3 roof vents. Minimum effort and low cost. The are installed of the back side of the roof and can't be seen from the street. MLD

-- unless you're in an area with hurricanes or heavy TSTMs. In hurricanes the ridge vents are the weak point and some report they tear off "like a zipper". Ridge vents are also a prime point of water intrusion wherever you have strong storms and heavy rains. Here in my part of Florida knowledgeable builders avoid ridge vents (or any other roof penetrations, including skylights and solar tubes ) if at all possible.

I don't see why you would blame that on poor attic venting.

I have not seen any mold anywhere in the attic or basement.

Fall and spring is normal to be humid, in fall you are closing up the house after a summer of high humidity and structure moisture. In fall when I first turn on the heat my windows even condense for days. It takes time for your heating system to dry thing out. In spring its the rain. To know if you have an issue use a humidistat, digital are sold as accurate, analog are rarely calibrated and off by 5-20%. Next time you go to a hardware store look at all the Taylor brand humidistats, at Menards they vary by 20% new. Many cant be calibrated, but Taylor sells a 3" model it even states to calibrate evry 6 months.

Are those the "turbine" type? If so, my experience is that they're pretty useless.

No--just a plain (typical) vent. I looked into the turbine type and agree with your comment;.the roofer didn't recommend it either. It certainly complements and is better than what I had which was just two gable vents. MLD

On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:48:56 -0700, higgledy broke out their crayolas and scribbled:

Consider installing a cupola.

roof vents lead to much lower attic temps espically important with better overall insulated homes.

high roof temperatures lead to early shingle failure.

more venting is always a good idea, besides helping moisture issues

Don't like the look? Hell, you can hardly see a ridge vent. The attic exhaust fans you want are MUCH more obvious than a ridge vent.

Since it's too humid inside the home during the heating season, have you investigated what's going on with the humdifier? Is it set correctly? Or even better still, why is it running at all? IMO, attic ventilation would have to be extremely whacked out to have any noticeable effect on humdity in the living space. On the other hand, a misadjusted humidifier will easily do it.