It is extremely important that roof structures are properly ventilated. Ventilation has often been an afterthought by builders who are more concerned with cosmetic appearance and maximizing profits. It is left to the smart homeowner to insure their home is protected from excess moisture and resulting mold and roof damage.
The Importance of Ventilation
Proper ventilation is critical for keeping moisture out of your home. Good Ventilation also exhausts the build up of summer heat in your attic. The wrong combinations of moisture and heat destroy wood structures, shingles and create attractive environments for the growth of molds. Poor ventilation will raise your cooling bills and make your home uncomfortable.
Contact Us About VentilationA Roofing Warranty Requires Proper Ventilation
Without good ventilation, your new roofing materials and your wood structure are in harms way and will not last like they should. Poor ventilation can and will destroy roof decks and create problems with roofing materials. Good ventilation is the answer and any roofer chosen must be accounting for good ventilation.
All portions of the roof structure need an air intake at the eave and an air exhaust at the ridge of the roof. These vents must be sized properly to allow the right volume of air to move through the attic to pick up the moisture that is entering the attic from the interior.
These air intakes must be properly located for your attic to properly exchange air. As part of our roof estimate, we analyze your need for ventilation to make you aware of any problem you might have. Roof work is the perfect time to deal with ventilation problems and we will alert you to any potential problems you have. If you have any questions or concerns about ventilation, please contact us and we will be happy to answer your questions.
Seasonal Ventilation Problems
Summer Issues
Illinois gets hot in summer and our attics get even hotter. This hot is hard on building materials. Attic temperatures can soar to 170 degrees in a poorly ventilated attic. This adds stress to your plywood deck and roofing materials. Stress shortens the life of materials.
A poorly insulated attic in summer transports heat to the interior of your home by radiation and conduction of energy. You are paying hard cash for extra cooling to overcome this heat gain, and you still might feel uncomfortable because the ceiling is radiating your head with extra warmth.
Most homes have HVAC ductwork in the attic. This ductwork often leaks. Negative air pressure inside the duct can draw this superheated attic air into your conditioned air cooling your home. This condition makes your HVAC system work harder, which creates more wear and tear on the equipment besides raising your heating bills.
Proper ventilation can therefore save you money in summer and make you feel better too.
Winter Issues
Moisture is the villain in winter. Illinois roofs are usually well-insulated. This means that the warm interior is well separated from the cool attic space EXCEPT where the warm heated air in your home leaks into the attic space around light fixtures and bathroom venting ducts. At these small micro-locations, moist warm air from cooking, laundry, and shower activities rises and penetrates through air gaps into the attic space. Here we are concerned with this air leakage creating moisture problems unless your home has proper ventilation.
Warm, moist interior air mixing with the cold air in the attic allows the formation of a dew point. This moisture collects on insulation, rafters, roof sheathing- on anything where the dew point is reached. To prevent reaching the dew point in your attic, there must be a free exchange of dryer air from the outside environment. Good Ventilation creates this free exchange and thus prevents moisture problems.
