Replies

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 11, 1999 08:48pm | #1

   *
   Eric,

   *scratching my head* This is a new one to me. I would think it would look horrible. If your roofing contractor made the suggestion I would guess he has some idea on how he would like to install it. The usual method for a slate ridge in volves laying some lath, 1x or, horsefeathers parallel to the ridge and then a metal flashing over this and headlapped down over the last course ,then running your ridge slates over this and either tarring the peak or installing a metal cap. I suppose a ridge vent could be incorporated into it somehow, maybe coravent or cobra would work, I doubt the metal ones would, but it would raise the ridge profile and look kinda cobbed together in my opinion. It's a good question though...anyone have the right answer?...Stephen?

   Richard Max

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 11, 1999 10:36pm | #2

   *I have never seen a ridge vent on a slate roof and I agree the looks may be of dubious value.Perhaps some gable end vents might be a reasonable compromise.If a ridge vent is insisted upon I suppose a capover style could be used with a ridge roll taking the place of ridge caps.Your house probably survived this long without the ridge vent.Are you sure you really need to add it at this time and mess up the aethstetics of a slate roof? perhaps the same benefits could be accomplished another way.Good luck,stephen

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 12, 1999 04:50am | #3

   *I agree that the gable vent is the best idea, most older slate roofed houses have great big gable vents on them at least in our area. However I have reroofed some that did not have vents and gables were not an option(brick walls) In those cases i made some ridge vents out of copper. These looked great on the slate roof keeping the character of house intact(copper valleys and flashings were used in other places) Your roofer should be able to fabricate these himself or find a tin knocker who can handle the job. one more thought, if you wanted to keep the slate ridge look have a carpenter build a wood ridge vent lined with screen and then install this over the last courses of slate. Then you can install the slate cap on the wood.

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 12, 1999 06:12am | #4

   *Thom,Can you explain how you did those custom copper ridge vents? Did they go over the ridge slates or under them? Richard Max

1. 
   Guest_ | Jul 12, 1999 06:59am | #5

   *Fellow roofers,Here's a new low in fine home building. I'm wonder about this intense push for chopping holes and uglifying these otherwise premium roofs. Is their some warrantee requirement from the slate manufacturers that I've missed?Make no mistake. You don't have to put any type of ridge vent on a slate roof. They are hideous. They were never used before the '70's. Gable vents suck (literally suck rain into the house) and "custom" ridge vents do not work. They are just nonfunctional.If you want to screw the owners that badly, make up a turbine vent or two out of copper and swear that they really need the air flow. Try not to giggle when you say that the copper will match the valleys and preserve the character of their property.Yuck, Fred

2. 
   Guest_ | Jul 12, 1999 07:42am | #6

   *Fred-While I agree that vents are not needed to validate any kind of warranty on slate, that is not the only reason we ventilate attic areas. Older homes with slate roofs had a lot of natural ventilation. The houses were not built "tight" like they are today. As house moisture migrates to the attic, if there is sufficient moisture and the temperature of the roof sheathing drops, that moisture will condense on the attic side of the sheathing. Sometimes to the point of dripping enough to create a "leak". This is something I have witnessed first hand on many occasions. It happens in the winter when the temperature falls down to single digits around here(NE Ohio). Custom ridge vents are not funtional? I can't think of a more ludicrous statement. Any properly made ridge vent combined with soffit vents is functional. You might as well state that water doesn't flow downhill. Speaking from experience, John

3. 
   Guest_ | Jul 12, 1999 06:56pm | #7

   *John,What you state about condensation is very true, but wouldn't it be better to solve the moisture problems at the source then to chop up the roof? If you are dumping all your indoor air into the attic you are losing the battle on many fronts, and ventilating the roof is a band-aid cure to only one of the symptoms.If a water heater springs a leak would you install a drain or fix the leak?Steve

4. 
   Guest_ | Jul 12, 1999 08:53pm | #8

   *Steve, Are you suggesting that home occupants stop generating moisture? Showers, dishwashers, plants, and a host of other human activities (not to mention humidifiers) all generate moisture. There is no way to eliminate excess moisture in a home. I am not suggesting that the extreme cases I mentioned are the norm. They have, however, dramatically illustrated to me this phenomenon. Most attic moisture is never noticed by the homeowner. It can result in a moist enough enviroment to grow mold and mildew and even delaminate plywood without ever being noticed inside the living area There has been tons of research done that shows that houses benefit both in the summer and the winter with proper attic ventilation. This is why virtualy every building code requires a minimum amount of attic ventilation (I'm not aware of any that don't). If you have a way to get around this basic construction principle (that is, that attic ventilation is both necessary and desirable) I would be interested to know how. I'm not saying that ridge vents are the only ventilation solution. On all the slate jobs I have been involved with we used box vents. What I do take exception to are statements that, EVEN WHEN INSTALLED CORRECTLY, ridge vents, gable vents, etc. are not effective or are prone to leakage or failure.JohnP.S. I wouldn't install a drain to fix a leaky water heater, but I would never install a water heater with out a floor drain nearby.

5. 
   Guest_ | Jul 12, 1999 09:27pm | #9

   *Sorry, John, but I don't get the meaning in your P.S. Why must there be a floor drain near a water heater, and what does that have to do with attic vents? I've seen many water heater installations without floor drains. Often these are in utility closets on the main floors of the houses. Zerby's analogy, on the other hand, makes sense -- do you treat the symptom or the disease? The disease, in this case, is air leakage from the heated envelope into the attic, with the attendant moisture. The vent is treating the symptom. Plus it promotes the disease by creating a chimney effect that increases the heated air's escape. Another analogy? How about cutting a hole in a person's abdomen to let out the blood from a ruptured spleen?

6. 
   Guest_ | Jul 13, 1999 01:12am | #10

   *Hi John,I'm not suggesting that you can totally eliminate moisture generation in the house. But I do believe that it is important to keep the levels of moisture generated down to the lowest levels possible and to keep the moist indoor air from exiting via the attic or any other house framing.This is accomplished by:1) vigorous air sealing of the attic space from living space 2) eliminating the controllable sources of moisture. The .33 air changes per hour that constitute a healthy rate of air exchange ought to more than take care of whatever moisture the occupants generate through daily use. This rate of exchange can be achieved in a tight house via air-to-air heat exchangers, opening windows occasionally and/or regular use of kitchen and bath vents.If you can effectively mitigate the moisture migration into the attic, and you should be able to, then venting is only needed to protect the longevity of the shingles by dissipating heat, which passive attic venting does ineffectively at best, and is not really an issue with slate.I know this goes against mainstream current construction wisdom, but I am not alone in this belief. I'm sure all the other camps will now jump in loudly and with much abuse, but I just wanted to make you aware there is another school of thought out there.Steve

7. 
   Guest_ | Jul 13, 1999 05:42am | #11

   * Steve,

   It might have something to do with the pressure release value expelling a large amount of water onto the floor? How about if the element tank rusts or ruptures through and deposits 30,40 or 50 gals of water onto the floor? It always a good idea to install a drain in the area if it doesn't already have one.

   Joseph Fusco View Image

8. 
   Guest_ | Jul 14, 1999 06:57am | #12

   *Fred, My response to some of your points; I have installed six "cold roofs" on cathedral ceiling jobs since 1981(not over scissor trusses, but roofs where the roof sheathing is also the finished interior ceiling). One is a 25,000 sq ft school roof. They all suffered in varying degrees from premature shingle failure and severe ice dams and none had any ventilation. The roofs are all performing well now.Heating and cooling costs were lowered on all six jobs, and ice dams have ceased to be a problem. So, with apologies to "our buddy" J.Lstiburek, one can see what an impact his findings and those of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. are going to have on my opinion. Just a thought- I'm sure the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. will be willing to pick up all those invalidated roof warranties when roofers stop using vents. I can't believe that I've managed to get by the last thirty years without FHB issue #125 and its no expense spared pictures and diagrams(were they black & white glossies with circles and arrows & a paragraph on the back of each one?)I'll just have to throw away those issues that have articles on how beneficial attic and roof ventilation is. I guess I must be road kill on an 8 lane highway and not even know it. I'll take consolation in knowing I'm not alone. Just as an aside Fred- I've only been on line for about 2 months. I took some time last night to go through some of your postings. You are obviously very passionate about the opinions you hold. I admire that. But if you are going to be the ambassador of the New World Order of ventilation and weatherization, and truly want to win converts to your beliefs, you may want to start sounding more like a diplomat and less like a fascist. The "in your face" and "my way is the only way" tone some of your postings take tends to make those who disagree dig their heels in. As Iwas once told "you get more flies with honey than with vinegar"Sincerly, John

9. 
   Guest_ | Jul 15, 1999 08:54am | #13

   *Fred, Name calling? Attacking your character? Are you refering to me? I just spent about an hour going over the archives. I had no idea what a touchy subject this was here at Breaktime. I did notice you seemed to have an inordinate number of deleted messages. Judging by the responses, you seem to be quite capable of the very thing you're complaining about. BUT YOU ERASED YOUR RECORD! How convenient......So your not trying to convert anyone? You must really enjoy sitting at your keyboard endlessly typing responses to any question that touches on this subject. If not to convince, then to what end? I also noticed that you and Gene are in accord on this subject. Gene-the man who built a house in a cold climate that only costs sixty some dollars to heat, and another house that only cost pennies to heat and actually heated up when the windows were opened. And who promotes his book at every opportunity. The same way ventilation manufacturers promote their products with literature to support their claims. The way you promote your business on this forum.I'm not promoting mythology. I'm not promoting anything. I don't have a link to my web site on this forum as you do. I'm simply sharing what I have seen work in my own experience. What you are implying is that my success with solving the roof problems I described above, and hundreds of others, is just blind, dumb, luck. Sorry, I don't buy it.John

10. 
    Guest_ | Jul 15, 1999 06:09pm | #14

    *John,However much distaste you have for Fred's posting style, you would do well to think about the things he talks about. They make a lot of sense. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. You may have had success in mitigating symptoms in the past, but that shouldn't close your mind to the possibility of even better ways to do things.Regards,SteveRegards,Steve

11. 
    Guest_ | Jul 16, 1999 02:33am | #15

    *Steve,

    I'm waiting for the day that one of you Freddy-ites doesn't come to his aid. He seems informed "?" and old enough to take care of himself.

    Joseph FuscoView Image

2. 
   Eric_Cumming | Jul 16, 1999 05:36am | #16

   *
   I am renovating a house with a slate roof. My roofing contractor suggests using a ridge vent. Recently I saw an article on slate roofs showing how this could be done (how the slates could be attached to the ridge vent), but I don't know what magazine it was in. Has anyone seen an article in Fine Homebuilding or This Old House magazine, or know how this would be done?

3. 
   Ray443 | Aug 27, 2021 10:24am | #17

   Joe Jenkins in his book the Slate Bible says hook ladders are not compatible with most ridge vents...does anyone know of a ridge vent that is?