Venting A Home With No Attic

If there are asphalt shingles on your roof the attic must be ventilated to comply with the terms of the manufacturer s warranty.

Venting a home with no attic.

Proper ventilation of the roof and attic of a home achieves several important functions. Inadequate attic venting can lead to premature aging of. With a soffit venting is not much of a challenge. 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. When the attic becomes part of the home to be heated and cooled open wall gable vents and roof vents are no longer feasible but the underside of the roof the sheathing and rafters can still get. The most common way to add ventilation to an attic is by installing air intakes in the soffits and putting an outlet at the gable of the house. Attic ventilation keeps your house cooler in summer and it prevents moisture from building up in winter and ruining your roof framing and insulation.

The important thing to remember is the air must flow through the attic to the roof vents somewhere near the ridge of the roof. This creates a natural air flow by drawing in the air from outside pushing it up and out through the vent at the top of the house. Without exception you should talk to a professional to determine what your home requires. Generally speaking you need a ratio of 1 300 where for every 300 square feet of ceiling space you need 1 square foot of attic ventilation.

Normal vented air likes to enter the attic lower down near the bottom third of the attic and as it passes through it will exit higher up near the top third of the attic space. If you have an attic with no soffit vents but 2 unobstructed gable vents then you will probably be ok on ventilation. That said air resistance and interference such as vent grates reduces the area of true ventilation. If the area is insulated without a vapor barrier the requirement doubles.

How to vent an attic with no eaves. It makes the attic space cooler it makes the home more energy efficient. This is called passive ventilation. Many years ago home builders were simply unaware of the importance of attic ventilation this is why some older homes don t even have soffits.

Venting solutions for roofs with no overhang or soffit install special roof intake venting products that work at the lower edge of the roof decking underneath the first course of shingles. Your actual living space is sealed and insulated at the attic floor the attic is outside this envelope.