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ventilation

Ventilation is an often overlooked but extremely important component of the roof system. Inadequate ventilation can result in drastically reduced shingle life and severe moisture problems in the attic. Proper ventilation requires an adequate amount of intake ventilation, effective exhaust ventilation and properly installed ducting from any hood fans to the goosenecks. If you have ever had any problems with moisture in the attic or suspect you may have a problem let us know and we can troubleshoot the issue.

intake ventilation

Intake ventilation is typically through the soffits. There are issues with both older and recently built homes over this for different reasons.

On older homes there will sometimes be plywood soffits installed with no or minimal ventilation. Sometimes aluminum soffit will get installed over this and if there is no ventilation cut into the plywood before it is installed it can hide the problem. Sometimes insulation will be installed to increase the energy efficiency of the home, however there must be a space left between the bottom of the sheathing and the insulation and must not be installed over the soffits or else it will cause problems. The solution to this can either be to pull back the insulation to allow for an airspace or install intake vents lower on the roof to allow for air intake.

On newer homes building codes dictate that non-vented soffit is installed within four feet of property lines. This decreases the amount of intake ventilation through the soffit, and in some cases due to roof design almost eliminates intake airflow. The best solution for this is to install intake vents lower down on the roof to allow for air intake.

exhaust ventilation

 There should be approximately 1 sf of roof ventilation for every 300 sf of attic space. Exhaust ventilation is through vents high up on the roofs near the ridgelines. For the best result different styles of ventilation should not be combined on the same area of the roof and should be installed as near to the ridgeline as possible.

ventilation products

intake/exhaust vents

Duraflo Weatherpro 50 are the standard vents that are installed on the roof as intake and exhaust vents. These vents are well sealed to the weather and there are no concerns about moisture intrusion, which can be an issue with some cheaper exhaust vents.

ventilation maximum vents

Ventilation Maximum vents are a high performance attic vent. One vent can ventilate a large amount of attic space, up to 1200 sf. These vents are constructed to draw warm, moist air out of the attic and are well baffled to prevent any moisture penetration. They are made out of steel and come in colours to match the roof. They are not only an upgrade in exhaust ventilation, but an upgrade in looks as well. The other benefit to them is there is no way they will get covered in snow, so ventilation will not be compromised in the event of a large snowfall.

Ridge vents

Ridge vents are an excellent way of ventilating the limited attic space that is a result of vaulted ceilings. They provide consistent ventilation horizontally across the ridge line properly ventilating every space between rafters. The one drawback is due to their low profile they are more likely to get covered by snowfall, but the benefits generally outweigh this drawback.

Goosenecks

Goosenecks are used to ventilate bathroom fans, hood fans and also dryer vents via ducting through the attic to the roof. Primex goosenecks are used due to the damper in them which helps prevent snow from blowing inside, it also helps prevent noise in windy conditions. A couple concerns with goosenecks can be the ducting allowing moisture into the attic, or condensed water leaking down the ducting and leaking through the bath fan. Both of these problems can be mitigated by using proper ducting and an adaptor at the roof level.