Continuous soffit vent retrofit - Page 2

ThomSjay · 10-21-11, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S-F

Huh? Which way am I going?

Sorry.

I thought that you were going to go with the continuous style.

S-F · 10-22-11, 04:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThomSjay

Sorry.

I thought that you were going to go with the continuous style.

Yeah, That's the plan. Just need to figure out how to go about it.

11-02-11, 07:22 PM

we do this from time to time. take the gutter off,usually a new one gets put back. pull off the facia and soffitt trim and reinstall it all with Azek and continous white aluminum soffit strip, usually theres two narow Azek soffit boards with the vent in the middle. I wont buy pine anymore "its all azek now". If its a tight budget we can drill out the 4" circle vents, one for every rafter bay.

TackyTeddy · 04-30-15, 02:03 PM

Two story home. I ran vented the full lenght of my soffit on the North and South sides of the house along with 24 feet with a full ridge vent on top.

Anyone see a problem with doing it that way? As someone posted ....

"This isn't good because the lack of lower ventilation will create negative pressure in the attic sucking warm air out of my house! "

Elcam84 · 07-15-15, 07:16 PM

I use the 8x16 vents. I have a template that I screw to the soffit with two screws. It predrills two holes and once up there I draw the square to be cut. Then pull he template off and sawsall the hole or use a light cordless circuit saw. Doesn't need to be pretty just a hole.

As for spacing that depends. Ideally you want about the same sqft of vent at the soffit as at the ridge. It's super easy to put too much in the soffits but I haven't seen a detriment to doing so. I put 52 around my parents house which is around 2 k with a two car garage.
I also prefer to over do it on the soffits because they will fill the screens with pollen and dirt and plug up over time. Also loose insulation can make its way on top of them.

gasstingy · 07-16-15, 08:02 AM

TackyTeddy,

The vented vinyl soffit material you show is exactly what I have all the way around my house. I also have gable vents in the ends of the attic.

During my home energy audit, the auditor suggested I close up the gable end vents and keep the soffit vents exactly like I had them. In my case, without closing the gable vents, I'm pulling most of my air from the gable ends when I would benefit the most if the air was pulled from the soffits, which he said were fine as is. I don't believe attic ventilator fans on the roof are better than a ridge vent. So, to answer your question, I believe that the vented soffit material all the way across the north & south elevations of the house is just right.

Elcam84 · 07-16-15, 02:39 PM

The problem I have seen with ridge vent is that most styles fill up with gunk and drastically increases resistance.

gtojohn · 07-17-15, 09:19 AM

I think in a southern mostly cooling climate you can't over do attic ventilation. It might hurt some winter time heat retension but not a huge concern where I live 50 weeks of the year. Just for grins before you install your vents put a remote thermometer in your attic and measure your peak temps and see if you make a difference. I spent a lot of time in attics. Shorter attics get hotter. My attic with double radiant barrier (spray and then foil), ridge vents, one gable vent, 30w solar power vent, some soffit vent and relative shading...this sunny week 106F at the top of my attic insulation and 120F 6ft higher near the solar vent. The peak temps are short lived usually less than 30 minutes around 4pm. By 7pm the insulation temp is close to outdoor ambient. Sundown around 8:30pm this time of year.

Elcam84 · 07-17-15, 09:40 AM

Those are impressively low attic temps. Most attics will be at those temps by 10am.

Also I forgot to mention. I'm not a fan of those vinyl or aluminum soffit vents. They don't flow very much air because of the tiny holes hence they need to be continuous to make up for it. I personally don't use it not so much because of performance but due to availibility. It's not a commonly available product here as vinyl siding is rare as it doesn't meet building code in most city's as its not masonry. Most require a house to have 60-80% masonry for the exterior. Brick and rock are longer lasting and more durable but install cost and repair are higher and they hold lots of heat. The walls hold so much heat they are hot all night and radiate heat inside the house.
I'd like to rip the brick off of mine foam it and side it with hardiside just for the energy savings. Luckily I can in our city but we won't be staying much longer.

nibs · 07-17-15, 01:16 PM

These days there is a trend towards "warm roofs" a warm roof must not be vented, it should be as airtight as you can make it. So if yours is a newish house, check that is a "cold roof" before opening up any vents.

In some countries cold roofs are only allowed for sloped roofs, because of the heat loss, but modern builders are trending towards warm roofs for both sloped and flat. Am personally going with warm roofs for my house abuilding 1/2 the roof is flat the other half is pitched.

The suggestion for holes seems to me to be the most sensible, drill 2" +/- holes in a row(s) between the rafters and cover the row with suitable screening.

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11-02-11, 07:22 PM	#13
BeverlyCaunca Guest Posts: n/a	we do this from time to time. take the gutter off,usually a new one gets put back. pull off the facia and soffitt trim and reinstall it all with Azek and continous white aluminum soffit strip, usually theres two narow Azek soffit boards with the vent in the middle. I wont buy pine anymore "its all azek now". If its a tight budget we can drill out the 4" circle vents, one for every rafter bay.

04-30-15, 02:03 PM	#14
TackyTeddy Lurking Renovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Crossville, TN (from Milwaukee) Posts: 19 Thanks: 4 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Two story home. I ran vented the full lenght of my soffit on the North and South sides of the house along with 24 feet with a full ridge vent on top. Anyone see a problem with doing it that way? As someone posted .... "This isn't good because the lack of lower ventilation will create negative pressure in the attic sucking warm air out of my house! "

07-15-15, 07:16 PM	#15
Elcam84 Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: TX Posts: 275 Thanks: 2 Thanked 31 Times in 24 Posts	I use the 8x16 vents. I have a template that I screw to the soffit with two screws. It predrills two holes and once up there I draw the square to be cut. Then pull he template off and sawsall the hole or use a light cordless circuit saw. Doesn't need to be pretty just a hole. As for spacing that depends. Ideally you want about the same sqft of vent at the soffit as at the ridge. It's super easy to put too much in the soffits but I haven't seen a detriment to doing so. I put 52 around my parents house which is around 2 k with a two car garage. I also prefer to over do it on the soffits because they will fill the screens with pollen and dirt and plug up over time. Also loose insulation can make its way on top of them.

07-16-15, 08:02 AM	#16
gasstingy Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Arab, AL Posts: 491 Thanks: 109 Thanked 49 Times in 43 Posts	TackyTeddy, The vented vinyl soffit material you show is exactly what I have all the way around my house. I also have gable vents in the ends of the attic. During my home energy audit, the auditor suggested I close up the gable end vents and keep the soffit vents exactly like I had them. In my case, without closing the gable vents, I'm pulling most of my air from the gable ends when I would benefit the most if the air was pulled from the soffits, which he said were fine as is. I don't believe attic ventilator fans on the roof are better than a ridge vent. So, to answer your question, I believe that the vented soffit material all the way across the north & south elevations of the house is just right.

07-16-15, 02:39 PM	#17
Elcam84 Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: TX Posts: 275 Thanks: 2 Thanked 31 Times in 24 Posts	The problem I have seen with ridge vent is that most styles fill up with gunk and drastically increases resistance.

07-17-15, 09:19 AM	#18
gtojohn Journeyman EcoRenovator Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 314 Thanks: 39 Thanked 50 Times in 45 Posts	I think in a southern mostly cooling climate you can't over do attic ventilation. It might hurt some winter time heat retension but not a huge concern where I live 50 weeks of the year. Just for grins before you install your vents put a remote thermometer in your attic and measure your peak temps and see if you make a difference. I spent a lot of time in attics. Shorter attics get hotter. My attic with double radiant barrier (spray and then foil), ridge vents, one gable vent, 30w solar power vent, some soffit vent and relative shading...this sunny week 106F at the top of my attic insulation and 120F 6ft higher near the solar vent. The peak temps are short lived usually less than 30 minutes around 4pm. By 7pm the insulation temp is close to outdoor ambient. Sundown around 8:30pm this time of year.

07-17-15, 09:40 AM	#19
Elcam84 Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: TX Posts: 275 Thanks: 2 Thanked 31 Times in 24 Posts	Those are impressively low attic temps. Most attics will be at those temps by 10am. Also I forgot to mention. I'm not a fan of those vinyl or aluminum soffit vents. They don't flow very much air because of the tiny holes hence they need to be continuous to make up for it. I personally don't use it not so much because of performance but due to availibility. It's not a commonly available product here as vinyl siding is rare as it doesn't meet building code in most city's as its not masonry. Most require a house to have 60-80% masonry for the exterior. Brick and rock are longer lasting and more durable but install cost and repair are higher and they hold lots of heat. The walls hold so much heat they are hot all night and radiate heat inside the house. I'd like to rip the brick off of mine foam it and side it with hardiside just for the energy savings. Luckily I can in our city but we won't be staying much longer.

07-17-15, 01:16 PM	#20
nibs Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 206 Thanks: 1 Thanked 18 Times in 17 Posts	These days there is a trend towards "warm roofs" a warm roof must not be vented, it should be as airtight as you can make it. So if yours is a newish house, check that is a "cold roof" before opening up any vents. In some countries cold roofs are only allowed for sloped roofs, because of the heat loss, but modern builders are trending towards warm roofs for both sloped and flat. Am personally going with warm roofs for my house abuilding 1/2 the roof is flat the other half is pitched. The suggestion for holes seems to me to be the most sensible, drill 2" +/- holes in a row(s) between the rafters and cover the row with suitable screening.