Roof Ventilation Without Soffit

They call this a venting drip edge.

Roof ventilation without soffit.

One great alternative to a soffit ventilation system is to install an intake vent right at the lower edge of the roof. Problems when roof has no overhang. Roof ridge vents are placed along the ridge line of the roof. 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.

Remove the shingles in the area where the vent is to be installed. Place the roof vent over the hole. Drill a hole inside the shape for the jigsaw blade. But if you don t have eaves or if you have shallow soffits like me ventilation can be a challenge.

Vents at the soffits are intermittent or spot vents or are simply too small. Don t install intermittent or occasional or faux soffit intake venting or vents with too little opening area such as we show in the photo at left. However without soffit vents that makeup air comes from indoors a situation that is not desirable in any season. Draw it on the roof deck.

For an attic without soffit vents you may have the option to use gable vents instead. Ridge vents are used for exhaust or outflow of moisture heat and stale air. Typically you would have a gable vent on each end of the attic. The two roof ventilation options intake vents and exhaust vents should be placed to take advantage of the natural increased speed of air circulation.

The venting drip edge seems to be the easiest and most common way to go. Soffit vents and eaves are placed at the lower extremes of the roof and provide the intake ventilation. Install special roof intake venting products that work at the lower edge of the roof decking underneath the first course of shingles. Venting solutions for roofs with no overhang or soffit.

With old homes it can be very difficult to properly ventilate the attic for a variety of reasons. If i had an older home without soffits i would strongly consider just completely air sealing the attic and adding foam insulation totally removing the need for ventilation. Intake vents such as soffits are placed lower on the roof usually under the eaves. If you live in an older home your roof might not be constructed for roof ridge or soffit vents.

This occurs through the rising of warm air and the falling of cooler air. 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. I m presuming that the roof has good eave detailing so that rain does not enter at the beam. The design of many older houses omits eaves which maximizes the amount of sunlight.

Weird attic layouts may be a part of it. How to vent an attic with no eaves the function of soffit vents. Insert the jigsaw and cut the hole. For proper ventilation it isn t enough for air to simply get into your attic.

Smart vent a special roof eaves vent product that provides a 3 4 opening about 6 above the top of the roof drip edge.