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Ridge and soffit question mksanny 08-17-2007
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Posted by on August 17, 2007, 10:45 am
I am having the shingles on my roof replaced. My roof has a ridge and
soffit attic ventilation system.

When I look up in the attic, I see there is a gap between the wooden
boards that make up the two sides of the roof. I assume the gap is
there for the air to flow thru. However the gap seems to be covered
with some black semi porous material right above the wood and does not
seem to allow a whole lot of air thru.

My question is.. when i look up thru the gap in the boards, should I
see some daylight that would tell me that there is a way for air to
pass freely? I can't see any daylight now and suspect air can't move
around that easily.


AppliancePartsPros.com, Inc.
Posted by on August 17, 2007, 11:54 am
On Aug 17, 9:45 am, mksa...@gmail.com wrote:
> I am having the shingles on my roof replaced. My roof has a ridge and
> soffit attic ventilation system.
>
> When I look up in the attic, I see there is a gap between the wooden
> boards that make up the two sides of the roof. I assume the gap is
> there for the air to flow thru. However the gap seems to be covered
> with some black semi porous material right above the wood and does not
> seem to allow a whole lot of air thru.
>
> My question is.. when i look up thru the gap in the boards, should I
> see some daylight that would tell me that there is a way for air to
> pass freely? I can't see any daylight now and suspect air can't move
> around that easily.

There are a variety of materials available for ridge vent solutions.
Some of them are porous dark material, almost like what you would see
in a room air conditioner filter. So, it's not unusual to not be able
to see daylight. When they do the shingles, they should put in a new
one anyway. So, you can do some research and find what kind u want.


Posted by Dottie on August 17, 2007, 2:33 pm
On Aug 17, 11:54 am, trad...@optonline.net wrote:
> On Aug 17, 9:45 am, mksa...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > I am having the shingles on my roof replaced. My roof has a ridge and
> > soffit attic ventilation system.
>
> > When I look up in the attic, I see there is a gap between the wooden
> > boards that make up the two sides of the roof. I assume the gap is
> > there for the air to flow thru. However the gap seems to be covered
> > with some black semi porous material right above the wood and does not
> > seem to allow a whole lot of air thru.
>
> > My question is.. when i look up thru the gap in the boards, should I
> > see some daylight that would tell me that there is a way for air to
> > pass freely? I can't see any daylight now and suspect air can't move
> > around that easily.
>
> There are a variety of materials available for ridge vent solutions.
> Some of them are porous dark material, almost like what you would see
> in a room air conditioner filter. So, it's not unusual to not be able
> to see daylight. When they do the shingles, they should put in a new
> one anyway. So, you can do some research and find what kind u want.



I recently had my roof replaced and was wondering the same thing ...
after all, it needs a place for the hot air to escape. Anyway, the
men who did my roof came back yesterday to work on a house down the
street and I asked about my ridge vent. I found out it's called a
Cobra Ridge Vent ... (I had seen the box. But when I looked up from
beneath - into the attic - I could only see the cut away at the top
and solid black, like the bottom of a shingle on it. ) They showed me
a piece of foamy black stuff - one of the men blew into it and I could
feel his breath come out the other side. It was not rigid the way I
had expected. So it's possible you have the same thing. This stuff
would look black from the bottom.


Posted by Paul Franklin on August 17, 2007, 5:15 pm
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:45:53 -0700, mksanny@gmail.com wrote:

>I am having the shingles on my roof replaced. My roof has a ridge and
>soffit attic ventilation system.
>
>When I look up in the attic, I see there is a gap between the wooden
>boards that make up the two sides of the roof. I assume the gap is
>there for the air to flow thru. However the gap seems to be covered
>with some black semi porous material right above the wood and does not
>seem to allow a whole lot of air thru.
>
>My question is.. when i look up thru the gap in the boards, should I
>see some daylight that would tell me that there is a way for air to
>pass freely? I can't see any daylight now and suspect air can't move
>around that easily.

Well now think about it...if you could see daylight, what would
happen when it rains? :-) I know, you meant you would think you
should be able to see light...and I'll bet if you turned off all the
lights, you would see a little glow.

There are several styles of ridge vents, but probably the most common
is shingle over style. It's a flat woven plastic mat that gets laid
down over the gaps you mentioned. Then shingles are applied over the
top so it blends in fairly well with the roof. The air rises through
the slots in the sheathing, and then has to flow sideways through the
plastic mat until it exits from the thin edge of the material.

The material is made to allow a reasonable amount of air to flow,
while preventing insects from getting in.

It doesn't seem like much air will flow, but because it runs the whole
length (almost anyway, there is usual a foot or so at each end that
isn't vented) of the roof, it adds up to sufficient area to allow
enough ventilation.

In short, what you are describing sounds typical.

HTH,

Paul


Posted by Al Bundy on August 17, 2007, 10:07 pm
mksanny@gmail.com wrote in news:1187361953.904524.286200
@i38g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

> I am having the shingles on my roof replaced. My roof has a ridge and
> soffit attic ventilation system.
>
> When I look up in the attic, I see there is a gap between the wooden
> boards that make up the two sides of the roof. I assume the gap is
> there for the air to flow thru. However the gap seems to be covered
> with some black semi porous material right above the wood and does not
> seem to allow a whole lot of air thru.
>
> My question is.. when i look up thru the gap in the boards, should I
> see some daylight that would tell me that there is a way for air to
> pass freely? I can't see any daylight now and suspect air can't move
> around that easily.
>


The attic air dows not go out and straight up. It goes out the sides of
the vent. The top if the ridge vent is covered to keep weather out. You
go up there on a hot day near the ridge vent. As hot as the roof is
you'll feel hoter air near the ridge vent.

Here's an animated airflow of how it works. Probably take forever on
dial-up.

http://www.easy2diy.com/cm/easy/diy_ht_index.asp?page_id=35720118

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