Attic Venting Q

[Dave Gallant]

Greeting:

I bought a 28 year old split level home a little over a year ago. The attic was never properly ventilated, but is in good shape fortunately. The attic is a typical crawl-space type.

My brother-in-law, who has a lot of experience in building, suggests that the best way to add ventilation is to go with a peak vent, and place foam troughs down into the eaves over the insulation. We would have to add holes into the soffitts for air to circulate as there are no holes there at the moment.

Does this sound like the best way to go? Also, can you purchase vents for the soffitts so that it has more of a finished look without having to replace the vinyl covering with one that already has holes in it?

Thanks,

Dave

[Bruce E. Harang II]

Dave,

Pick up this months issue of Family Handyman magazine and it has an article on adding an attic vent including adding the soffitt vents. I think that you will find it very useful.

Good luck, Bruce

[JerryMouse]

Yes. You can't have too many soffit vents. Remember commercial vents are only euivalent to 1/2 - 1/3 the open area of the hole you make in the soffits (because they're covered with mesh, etc.). So, after you compute the amount of soffit area you need, multiply by 2 or 3 if you're covering the opening.

[William W. Plummer]

You must have insulation on the ceiling below the attic. Your insulation layer is what divides "inside" from "outside" and your vents will make the attic "outside".

[Dave Gallant]

No problem there - I live on the east coast of Canada :)

Thanks,

Dave

[Dave Gallant]

Can you tell me what "month" is listed on the cover? The current issue listed on their web site (June) does not mention any attic work.

Thanks,

Dave