Improve Attic Ventilation

How you can improve your attic ventilation the u s.

Improve attic ventilation.

Touch your ceiling on a warm sunny day. It helps prevent ice dams in winter by keeping your roof colder. Rectangular soffit vents are. You can also contact your local municipality to check on building code in your area.

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. If you don t see any attic vents on the roof or in the eaves you need to add some. 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. Look at your eaves and roof. As soffit vents are essentially intake vents which contribute to better attic ventilation by drawing the air from the. If there are asphalt shingles on your roof the attic must be ventilated to comply with the terms of the.

This allows for a continuous flow of air through the space. Attic ventilation works on the principle that heated air naturally rises primarily utilizing two types of vents. This 1 300 rule is general and may not apply to all buildings. Obviously more research is needed but here s what we do know.

Your actual living space is sealed. Here are four signs of an unventilated or under ventilated attic. A hot ceiling tells you that the attic is acting like a solar oven. 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.

Hot air exhaust vents located at the peak of the roof allow hot air to escape. 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. 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.

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