How has roofing changed for your area of expertise over the years?

Natty, we don't do that on all of them, but a lot of them. I see people putting on the "smart vents" on top of the roof at the eave and I have to laugh. It looks goofy and why would you install a hole slot right where the ice is going to build. I know the "formulas" too, but the best formula is to open it completely up and let the air flow. Make that attic like a "Pavilion" so that the air can flow here ever it wants. You will absolutely eliminate any ice buildup and the AC costs will drop in the summer too. The shingles last longer, and so does the framing. Yes it costs more, but if a person is going to stay in the house for more than 6 years, it will pay for itself.

This is really only necessary on the houses built before they started to make the energy heels on the trusses. Those let the air flow t the soffit. anything else just doesn't have enough space for the ventilation at the plate. It is better to have air flow than insulation on the plate. It also makes a difference in that we are not trying to do a lot of work. I only have a couple of men working with me and I don't advertise, I am not in the book and everything is referral. When you have been in a town as long as we have, that works. I can afford to turn away work if they won't do it my way. Not bragging but it works for me.

Chuck Said: So yes improving the intake and making the exhaust maintenance free was the goal.

PS: This house also has a small gap between the plywood and fascia with the top of the fascia being slightly lower down than the underside of the plywood so that is more intake in addition to the soffit venting. There is no drip edge on the home. And no I didnt roof it. :dry:

My point was you could not be happy with a job where the numbers did not add up for a 'proper' installation. And since power fans require at least 600in2 intake each, even with the no drip edge gap, there was not enough intake. Nevertheless, another question- how did you install the ridge vents? Did you remove the old ridge and top course then cut the slit and repair the shingles, or did you just cut through the whole shebang nails and all with a special blade?

Old School Said: This is really only necessary on the houses built before they started to make the energy heels on the trusses. .

Natty, your a trip. It's his house and his money. He knew what he wanted before he called. I can only advise a client. I can't forcefully make them do anything. He has been living in the home since it was first built in 1982 with only 4 soffit vents. Today it has 16. Four times the intake it had before. It might not be the way you would like to have done it but it's better than its ever been in over 35 years.This is an older gentlemen pretty set in his ways. He just wanted the ridge vent. I had to talk him into allowing me to install the extra soffit vents because I knew the house needed more intake. The good news is that the continuous soffit venting can still be installed at any time in the future. The roof work is complete and would not have to be changed.

I removed the old ridge caps, cut out the shingles and felt with a hook blade down to the bare wood and then cut the wood out with a circular saw. Your right, it's quite a chore and I charged accordingly. I guess that's why he didn't wanna spend more for continuous soffit venting. :huh:

PS: Almost nobody around here wants to pay anything at all for added intake. Most of the time I'm just replacing power fans that burned out with new units. Sometimes I replace wind turbines with power fans. The ridge vent job was a rare one. ( Taking out power fans to install ridge vent ) I did one recently where the client wanted to add two power fans because the ridge vents were not doing the job. ( hip roof with a large high attic only had about 20 ft. of ridge vent ) He would not pay me to remove the ridge vents, install some new decking and cap over. Instead he informed me that he would be filling the cut out up with spray foam from inside the attic. In these cases, I just do what they are paying me to do. The only other choice would be to decline the work and I usually don't have that luxury.

PS: You quoted the amount of intake required for power fans. Those were taken out and ridge vent installed! Also the amount of intake air needed for a power fan depends on the CFM rating of the fan.

That is funny. In Texas where it is hot as hell, they really should be educated about the importance of ventilation. If those power fans are running and trying to draw out the hot air and there is not enough intake, then they are pulling out the air conditioned air from the inside of the house too. If they are trying so hard that they burn up the motors, they are generating a lot of heat in and of themselves. It has to be our job to educate the people about these things. That education has to come in the way of questions that they answer themselves so they can see then wisdom of what we are saying. I guess you can't fix Stupid with some people though. I just walk away.

Most of the homes I work on already have the proper intake but often have poor exhaust. Everyone seems to think ridge vent is the bomb but on these McMansion style homes with huge 20-30 ft. high attics, steep roofs, very few top ridges and not much length ridge vent does not even begin to ventilate properly. The power fans are the only real solution in these cases and they typically don't last any longer than 5-10 years even with adequate intake air. Around that time either the motors or thermostats go bad. I just replace the entire units rather than swap parts in and out. When you work in a Metro Area where 1.5 million people live there are a lot of power fans going out continuously and believe me, I have "educated" for so many years that I feel like I should be able to retire any time now with a full college professor's benefit package. :laugh: