Roof Without Soffit Vents

However without soffit vents that makeup air comes from indoors a situation that is not desirable in any season.

Roof without soffit vents.

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. Exhaust vents exhaust vents are installed at the top of the roof. Smart vent a special roof eaves vent product that provides a 3 4 opening about 6 above the top of the roof drip edge. Even if you do not have soffits it may still be a good idea to install a ridge vent even if it s effectiveness is reduced without soffit venting.

Without adequate ventilation moisture rises with the hot air and forms condensation on the inside of the roof deck. It makes sense that the wettest spots are near the beam because that s the most likely site for humid air leakage from the indoors. This moisture is released into the air inside the house from bathing cooking plants laundry and other causes. With a soffit venting is not much of a challenge.

Without exhaust vents this hot air and water vapor can lead to inferior indoor air quality and cause all kinds of problems from peeling paint to roof damage. However if the home has no soffit it is quite a different matter. What about edge vents. On the principle that hot air rises the accumulated heat and moisture would rise to the attic and out the roof vents.

For an attic without soffit vents you may have the option to use gable vents instead. The venting drip edge seems to be the easiest and most common way to go. Where we inspect attics where even larger vent openings are provided in the soffits or eaves if the openings are intermittent we see wet and often moldy roof sheathing on those roof sections where no venting is provided the in between vent roof sections even though at other roof sections where vents are present the sheathing often looks clean and dry. Typically you would have a gable vent on each end of the attic.

They call this a venting drip edge. One great alternative to a soffit ventilation system is to install an intake vent right at the lower edge of the roof. 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. It will primarily depend on the roof.

A company called air vent has created a patented product called shingle over edge vents. Some home designs do not have a soffit. Their primary job is to provide an unobstructed exit for the heat hot air odors and moisture trapped in your attic.