Roof Without Soffit Vents

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.

Roof without soffit vents.

Typically you would have a gable vent on each end of the attic. One great alternative to a soffit ventilation system is to install an intake vent right at the lower edge of the roof. 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. 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.

Exhaust vents exhaust vents are installed at the top of the roof. On the principle that hot air rises the accumulated heat and moisture would rise to the attic and out the roof 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. With a soffit venting is not much of a challenge.

What about edge vents. It will primarily depend on the roof. 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. I m presuming that the roof has good eave detailing so that rain does not enter at the beam.

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. For an attic without soffit vents you may have the option to use gable vents instead. Their primary job is to provide an unobstructed exit for the heat hot air odors and moisture trapped in your attic. Some home designs do not have a soffit.

This moisture is released into the air inside the house from bathing cooking plants laundry and other causes. Without adequate ventilation moisture rises with the hot air and forms condensation on the inside of the roof deck. The venting drip edge seems to be the easiest and most common way to go. However without soffit vents that makeup air comes from indoors a situation that is not desirable in any season.

Smart vent a special roof eaves vent product that provides a 3 4 opening about 6 above the top of the roof drip edge. However if the home has no soffit it is quite a different matter. This is usually a 3 8 inch piece of plywood that is underneath the overhanging portion of the roof that extends beyond the outside wall.