Roofing Question

[Dottie]

I had a new roof installed and one of the changes made at that time (to make it stronger in case of hurricane) was to cover the vents at each end of the attic with plywood. The old tile roof was removed and a new shingle roof with ridge vent was put on. The house has seemed hotter than before but my neighbor said her house was cooler after the same changes. Today I got on the ladder and looked up at the attic. Where the ridge vent is supposed to be - I can see about an inch and a half on each side of the gable that has no wood....but I can see black. It is either the tar paper (felt) or the shingle. I think I should be able to see the mesh of the ridge vent. Before I make a call and complain about this, I need to know more. Is it possible they left off the ridge vent and just covered it with shingle?

It was inspected and passed inspection....would something like this be apparent to an inspector? Anyway I can tell just by looking? I am far too old to actually climb up in the attic. Thanks.

[Art]

A ridge vent should be obvious from the ground even if it is a nail over type as most are these days.

Inspectors are mostly useless in my experience.

After you get that fixed make sure you have adquate soffit vents.

[Dottie]

I do have soffit vents. I am trying to find out what kind of ridge vent was used. I talked to a man in the building dept. and he said that there are new ridge vents that have been approved that are not wire mesh kind. They are made out of a "breathable" foamlike material that may appear to be a "fat shingle" from the attic side. I am trying to get in touch with the person who inspected my roof to see if he remembers anything about it.

[Big_Jake]

My ridge vent is black, and is a molded plastic type. It sits up pretty high, but I wanted function over beauty. There are styles that resemble a long, black, "scotch-brite" pad. That may be what you have.

JK

[Dottie]

I found out that mine is a Cobra ridge vent. I saw one up close and it doesn't look like what I expected. Anyway, I was told by the man who installed it that that was the kind I have. It is made out of the "breathable" stuff and is not rigid the way I had expected. From the bottom it just looks black.

[Al Bundy]

Dottie wrote in news: [e-mail]:

The attic air dows not go out and straight up. It goes out the sides of the vent. The top if the ridge vent is covered to keep weather out. You go up there on a hot day near the ridge vent. As hot as the roof is you'll feel hoter air near the ridge vent.

Here's an animated airflow of how it works. Probably take forever on dial-up.

Here is how Cobra is properly installed:

[Dottie]

innews: [e-mail]:

Do you know if the Cobra has some black and foamy inside? Yesterday when I was shown a Cobra ridge vent, I did not see what I saw on the GAF website....no metal pieces. I only saw the black foamy stuff .... now I have to wonder did I get scammed or does this foamy looking stuff go under the metal piece. Thanks.

[Dottie]

innews: [e-mail]:

One of my neighbors was kind enough to go up on the roof and look. I do not have the Cobra vent. I have some foamy plastic stuff. The foamy plastic does pass the building code here ... but what I need to know now is 1. Is it as effective as the Cobra ridge vent 2. Is there a big difference in price The contract specifically calls for the Cobra. Any help would be appreciated. I don't want to be a PITA for the roofer but I can't really afford to have unusually high a/c bills either. I want to do the best I can to cut back on electricity.

[Dottie]

innews: [e-mail]:

I have found out that what I have is a Cobra Ridge Vent (exhausts) but it is not rigid. Still - have to live with it.