ridge vents - are they worth installing?
Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 5:27 pm
planning to do the second side of my roof this summer.
for those not familiar with ridge vents..
the ridge vents want to have an inch or two gap in the plywood near the peak. then they lay a plastic mesh about 18 inches wide over the peak. near the bottom of the first shingle from the top, the plastic mesh forms about a 1/4" screened gap to let air under the mesh so then the roof can vent through there.
Ive got a couple of 8 inch square vents. I added one more for my bathroom fan. It gets hot in my attic in summer. I've never added a ridge vent before and I have some questions on the installation. there are a variety of makers. there is some cost. does anyone else here have ridge vents and if so what were your opinions? has anyone else installed one before?
my attic is divided into living space and storage where the roof is less than 4' tall. I have that division wall insulated. there is some insulation above the drywall but there is some strapping between the drywall and the studs so the insulation should be sort of loose up there. inside the storage area I have not insulated against the roofing as this causes the roof to run hot and not last. I have some venting into the storage space that is 6 feet wide ( about 10 feet of my lower roof deck) and runs the length of my house on both sides. venting into this space could be increased. i have easy access to the space. Its not quite how I'd build it from scratch but it would probably allow it to expel some heat up there.
one little Issue I have that isnt' a perfect situation...
When I drywalled there I was pretty gren and had just bought the house. I hired drywallers to fly at it. we removed all the droopy beaverboard.
We put 3.5 inches of pink up there against the plywood. knowing what I do now I would have put a corrugated sheet there so the insulation wasn't against the roof to allow venting up to a ridge vent. under the 2x4 rafters it had some strapping. I made an agreement with the drywallers to remove all the strapping to gain ceiling height but being a couple of jerks they boarded it up when I went to work without removing the strapping as we had agreed. . As it is I probably have some gap due to the strapping but its underneath the insulation and above the drywall. tearing that all apart isn't practical at this point because its all finished. I still think adding a ridge vent would help a bit as the air probably would flow there somewhat but I know it isn't quite right.
to add one I might need to strip the top row of roofing I've completed but that's not a big issue. I couldn't complete the ridge cap last year because I hadn't finished both sides yet so for the winter I sort of just nailed a few shingles on the peak , most of them blew down but It didn't leak. the top row droops over a little and it has a membrane so I guess that was enough to get through winter.
I have until I get to the top of the second side to make a decision on wheather it would be beneficial to add ridge venting. i figure its probably an extra 200 or so for the plastic stuff, and i maybe have to tear off a row of shingles, maybe 50 bucks for that. How well the ridge vent would work is hard to determine or measure.
thanks,
Phil
for those not familiar with ridge vents..
the ridge vents want to have an inch or two gap in the plywood near the peak. then they lay a plastic mesh about 18 inches wide over the peak. near the bottom of the first shingle from the top, the plastic mesh forms about a 1/4" screened gap to let air under the mesh so then the roof can vent through there.
Ive got a couple of 8 inch square vents. I added one more for my bathroom fan. It gets hot in my attic in summer. I've never added a ridge vent before and I have some questions on the installation. there are a variety of makers. there is some cost. does anyone else here have ridge vents and if so what were your opinions? has anyone else installed one before?
my attic is divided into living space and storage where the roof is less than 4' tall. I have that division wall insulated. there is some insulation above the drywall but there is some strapping between the drywall and the studs so the insulation should be sort of loose up there. inside the storage area I have not insulated against the roofing as this causes the roof to run hot and not last. I have some venting into the storage space that is 6 feet wide ( about 10 feet of my lower roof deck) and runs the length of my house on both sides. venting into this space could be increased. i have easy access to the space. Its not quite how I'd build it from scratch but it would probably allow it to expel some heat up there.
one little Issue I have that isnt' a perfect situation...
When I drywalled there I was pretty gren and had just bought the house. I hired drywallers to fly at it. we removed all the droopy beaverboard.
We put 3.5 inches of pink up there against the plywood. knowing what I do now I would have put a corrugated sheet there so the insulation wasn't against the roof to allow venting up to a ridge vent. under the 2x4 rafters it had some strapping. I made an agreement with the drywallers to remove all the strapping to gain ceiling height but being a couple of jerks they boarded it up when I went to work without removing the strapping as we had agreed. . As it is I probably have some gap due to the strapping but its underneath the insulation and above the drywall. tearing that all apart isn't practical at this point because its all finished. I still think adding a ridge vent would help a bit as the air probably would flow there somewhat but I know it isn't quite right.
to add one I might need to strip the top row of roofing I've completed but that's not a big issue. I couldn't complete the ridge cap last year because I hadn't finished both sides yet so for the winter I sort of just nailed a few shingles on the peak , most of them blew down but It didn't leak. the top row droops over a little and it has a membrane so I guess that was enough to get through winter.
I have until I get to the top of the second side to make a decision on wheather it would be beneficial to add ridge venting. i figure its probably an extra 200 or so for the plastic stuff, and i maybe have to tear off a row of shingles, maybe 50 bucks for that. How well the ridge vent would work is hard to determine or measure.
thanks,
Phil