Improve Attic Ventilation

Your actual living space is sealed.

Improve attic ventilation.

A well ventilated attic offers four benefits it prevents mildew growth and rot on your roof s framing and sheathing by reducing moisture buildup. Don t avoid ventilating your attic for fear you re letting cold air into the house. Touch your ceiling on a warm sunny day. You can also contact your local municipality to check on building code in your area.

It extends the life of your shingles by keeping the roof cooler in hot weather. Most building codes require a ratio of 1 150 ventilation space to attic floor space. Effective ventilation in an unfinished attic usually includes intake vents down low along the soffits and exhaust vents up high at the peak or roof ridge. It helps prevent ice dams in winter by keeping your roof colder.

This 1 300 rule is general and may not apply to all buildings. As soffit vents are essentially intake vents which contribute to better attic ventilation by drawing the air from the. Ventilation of attic spaces is required by most building codes as well as by roofing material manufacturers and the national roofing contractors association nrca. These improve attic ventilation by creating a draft of air coming into the attic from outside at the lowest possible location on the roof.

Here are four signs of an unventilated or under ventilated attic. If you don t see any attic vents on the roof or in the eaves you need to add some. Federal housing administration recommends a minimum of at least one square foot of attic ventilation split evenly between intake and exhaust for every 300 square feet of attic floor space. Rectangular soffit vents are.

This allows for a continuous flow of air through the space. A hot ceiling tells you that the attic is acting like a solar oven. Intake vents are typically found along the soffit of the house which is the horizontal wood surface under the eaves. Hot air exhaust vents located at the peak of the roof allow hot air to escape.

If there are asphalt shingles on your roof the attic must be ventilated to comply with the terms of the. Obviously more research is needed but here s what we do know. How you can improve your attic ventilation the u s. Look at your eaves and roof.

Intake vents located at the lowest part of the roof under the eaves allow cool air to enter the attic.