Everything You Need to Know About Roof Venting

Most of the time when talking about roofing, the goal is to ensure things are sealed up. You’re working to ensure that there aren’t leaks or gaps anywhere in the roof whether it’s when installing shingles or inspecting your decking.

Roof vents are installed specifically to create openings in your roof to allow air from your attic to vent to the outside. You may consider this to be counterintuitive, leaving a gap for cold winter air to flow freely into your home, but it is a crucial feature of your home that ensures your roof provides a long and quality service life.

The purpose of venting in your roof is to allow hot air that builds up in your attic to vent correctly to the outside. Hot air rises, and naturally collects in your attic. During the winter, this hot air, if not vented properly, causes snow on your roof to melt unevenly, which then refreezes when the cold water reaches the edge of your roof, away from the warmed area. This creates ice dams which lead to pooling water on your roof and long term damage. During the summer, hot air from your home collects in the attic, where it’s further heated by the sun’s rays on the roof. If you don’t have sufficient venting, this heated air builds up in your attic and “cooks” your roof. High temperatures damage your roof decking and shingles over time, causing the roof to break down far sooner than it should.

It’s worth noting there’s a wide variety of venting options for your roof, and not all roof vents will look the same. Your home should have at least two types of vents, intake and exhaust venting. These allow for cool air to be brought in from the outside and hot air to vent back out. Within these two types of vents, you may have different styles of vents. For exhaust vents, some homes may have a ridge vent, which runs along the ridge of the roof and may not be visible from the ground. Other homes may have box vents, that are a little more obvious. For intake venting, soffit vents are the most common, and again may not be visible as you observe your roof.

These are also easy to block when placing insulation in your attic, so be cautious. Many other types of venting are available, so just because you don’t see your vents, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Identify if your roof needs better venting by watching for symptoms such as ice damming during the winter, or checking for abnormally high temperatures in your attic during the summer. If you’re not sure, our qualified staff can check on your venting as part of a full roof inspection.  If you’re concerned about your roof’s venting or any other issue, contact us today!

Contact Form

    Which services are you interested in?