I’m getting new asphalt shingles put on my very steep roof. The work is nearly done and I noticed that the roofers did not install attic vents, as promised. I called the company owner and he told me they put the vents in after the roof is done. Is this standard practice?
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Joey, it would be nice if we had some details of your area - your Profile.
This will bump your post to where some of the Sunday evening folks might see it.
Quality repairs for your home.
AaronR Construction
Vancouver, Canada
I'm in Toledo, Ohio. My profile? I'm a homeowner. I have brown hair and I can ride a unicycle. Hope that helps.
It can be done that way, although its not an ideal way of doing it.
I always installed them while I was right there shingling.
Why isn't the roofer using ridge vent? Not enough ridge for the sq. ft. of the house?
Make sure they actually cut a hole for the can vents, I caught a roofer just nailing them on without the hole.
I'm only half as dumb as I look.
Make sure they actually cut a hole for the can vents, I caught a roofer just nailing them on without the hole.
I did too!
Tim Memphest 2006
November 18th
It looks like the original poster got the answers he was looking for, so I don't feel as bad hijacking the thread a little...
Last Thursday we had a HUGE thunderstorm in Minneapolis, and afterwards I noticed that a little water came in through the vents in my roof (the same kind of vents as discussed above.) The roof as well as the vents are about two years old and I haven't had any water come in before. Is it reasonable to think this was an isolated incident, because the rain was coming down so hard and fast and it was blowing so hard, or should I call the roofing contractor and have him take a look? For a time, it was raining as hard as I've ever seen it come down.
I'd get them checked out. I've seen wind damage those vents as well as animals trying to get in the house.
GRANTT LOGANN - THE LEXINGTONVILLE COPPERWRIGHT
http://grantlogan.net/
I think with the storms we had a little moisture through the vents is normal. If nothing else you're going to get some mist blowing through, and as hard as it was blowing (and for a long time, at least down here in Byron), the mist could amount to a bit. It shouldn't get to be enough to soak the insulation, though.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Your profile is accessed by clicking on your name. If we know where you are, we can be of better asisstance since things are often done differently by region.
"Does this motel give discounts to the clergy?" - Gunner, Conneaut, OH '06
http://grantlogan.net/
I question how well ridge vents would keep wind blown rain out in high winds- like a hurricane. seems a 1 inch wall of water being blown up the roof slope would get in the ridge vent based on just looking at them in the store. the regular roof vents to me would give more protection.
>>>>>>>>>>I question how well ridge vents would keep wind blown rain out in high winds- like a hurricane.That's the reason for filling out the profile. There hasn't been a hurricane in Toledo, OH for years. And the conditions you describe will make about any penetration leak. I've been installing ridge vents for 20 years and I've had one callback and that was snow related. The special snow baffle ridge vent was letting fine blowing snow in. Never had the problem with non-baffled vent.
"Does this motel give discounts to the clergy?" - Gunner, Conneaut, OH '06
http://grantlogan.net/
The contractor isn't proposing a ridge vent. He plans to install -- I don't know what they're called -- regular vents. The sort that are installed about a third of the way down from the ridge. They're about a foot square and there'll be four of them on the backside of the house.
The instructions with those vent say install about 2 ft down from the peak, not 1/2 way
My question is: is it customary to install these after the shingles are in place?
Thanks,
Joey
The crew you're using may have shingle layers that do only that and detail guys that come behind them. Different crews work in different ways. If the shingle layers are getting paid by the square, they don't want to fool with anything that will slow them down. To try to answer your question, my guys would install the vents as they went. That's not necassarily wrong or right, it's just how we skin the cat. The end result is all that matters.
GRANTT LOGANN - THE LEXINGTONVILLE COPPERWRIGHT
http://grantlogan.net/
Thanks. Sounds like it's possible, then, to achieve a leak-free installation even putting the vent in after the shingles are down. That's my only concern, of course. Can anyone else concur?
Presumably they're putting the new vents where the old ones were. Likely they shingled over the old vent locations (makes it easier to keep rows straight), but hopefully didn't nail the shingles close to the holes. Should be possible to cut the shingles back, slide the vent in, and nail it down, without much effort. If there are a few too many nails in the way a shingle thief will fix things up.Is this a good way to do things? Depends. It lets the shinglers go all-out, without having to break their stride for the vents, and it keeps the vents from being damaged by the shinglers. But it depends more on the skill and patience of the guy installing the vents.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Hi Dan,
>>>Presumably they're putting the new vents where the old ones were. <<<
Incredibly, my roof had no ventilation before (other than the leaky gap between the chimney and the gable siding).
Thanks for your reply.
Joey
If it didn't have any ventilation before, I'd guess that is the primary reason it needs to be replaced. Take the suggestions and make sure you end of with adequate ventilation (including air intake as well as the outlets), otherwise you'll be replacing the roof again soon.
Good luck.
Thanks, Andrew.
LOLL. Justt noticedd yourr neww taglinee!
CU has good answer on that, but normal recommendations and practice for this type of vent places it nearter the ridge. Tjhe higher it is, the better it will perform. And the formula for figuring how much calls for a sq ft of venting for each 150 sq ft of house. I'm betting your house is larger than 600 sq ft.I would personally have let the vents in as I installed the shingles.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Hi Piffin,
>>>The formula for figuring how much calls for a sq ft of venting for each 150 sq ft of house. <<<
Using that calculation, my 1800 sq. ft. house would require 12 1-square-foot vents. I've looked at other roofs in the neighborhood, and none have close to that many. Is it possible that the calculation is based on the number of square feet of the upper-most floor only?
Thanks,
Joey
Yeah, it should be roof area or attic area or some such.An easier way to think of the formula is one square inch of vent for each square foot of roof -- this works out to 1:144.Most homes were built to 1:300, if there was any standard at all when they were built, and they tend to be seriously under-vented by current standards.Of course, the above vent area is to be more or less evenly divided between ridge/rooftop vents and soffit vents.
If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. --James Madison
Yes, upper floor, but that is a minim,um, and you don't want to go by what others have done if you want it right. go by the standard, not the example of what somebody got away with.venting is an extremely variable topic. Some recommend one foot per one hundred instead of 150. It varies according to climate, how much of what kind of insulation, whether you havea VB and penetrations sealed, infiltration at sills below, etc, etc, etc.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Thanks Piffin. Since the vents haven't been installed yet, I'll push for more rather than fewer.
Joey
Andrew brings up a good point! Do you have any soffit vents?If not, the end can be worse than the beginning. There are pop-in round vents up to 4" in diameter. It is easy to drill the hole with a hole saw and snap the vents in each bay between trusses or rafters. The in at soffits should approximate the out flow at uppers in roof. to vent top without providing airflow from soffits continuous means you can have a negative pressure in the attic, which then pulls air from in thehouse, depending...Thus, in winter, you end up with warm moist house air pulled into the attic and condensing to cause all sorts of problems. A case where half enough vent system is worse than none at all.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
We're taking care of that, Piffin. Thanks.
Joey
There ya go!
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
That explains alot.
If you rode a bicycle like the rest of us he would have had the vents in already.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City