How To Vent A Roof Without Soffit

With a soffit venting is not much of a challenge.

How to vent a roof without soffit.

Rose a research architect at the building research council at the university of illinois replies. The important thing to remember is the air must flow through the attic to the roof vents somewhere near the ridge of the roof. A ridge vent without a soffit vent doesn t work and here s why. Drip edge vents hang out several inches past the edges of the.

The main idea of the ridge vent is to act together with soffit venting to properly ventilate the attic. By virtue of their design and location on the roof ridge vents are predominantly exhaust devices. I reshingle this past year and pulled out old r14 insulation and retaped as many as visually possible areas of vapour barrier leaks cuts in material etc. This creates a natural suction phenomenon where the ridge vent is sucking air out of the soffit vents creating a natural ventilation cycle.

Two simple alternatives to soffit vents can be installed with little more than a circular saw and a hammer. Install special roof intake venting products that work at the lower edge of the roof decking underneath the first course of shingles. For more information on ventilation and moisture control read this article i wrote on proper attic ventilation it s my position that you should have a proper ventilation system in your attic and that you should always take the time to air seal the floor of the attic. Smart vent a special roof eaves vent product that provides a 3 4 opening about 6 above the top of the roof drip edge.

However if the home has no soffit it is quite a different matter. Even without soffit venting it is important to provide an air gap at the soffit level to help keep the roof deck dry. Thankfully there are some ways around this dilemma.