roof in

All right, you just figured out you have zero ventilation in your roof. One way to tell that you have no ventilation is if you live in a snow belt and you had ice dams this year or any other year. Another sign of no roof ventilation is the asphalt shingle roof you have just does not last. It curls and gets brittle and cracks within a few years of having it installed. These are sure signs that either your ventilation is not working or that maybe you have no ventilation at all.

What can you do about it?

There are options. One of the options is to attempt to create an air passage by adding a combination of sofit and ridge or gable end vents. The idea is to get some convection going. Sometimes we see that there is no opportunity to make an airway, so this option might not work.

Another option might be to remove all of the insulation in the roof and replace it with one of the new, more efficient spray in place foam insulations that do not require roof ventilation. This can be a fairly costly fix. It depends on the access that you have to the insulation. Do you have to remove interior walls and ceilings to get to it? Sometimes, if you have an older house with boards for roof sheathing instead of plywood, this task can be completed from the outside of the house with less interruption for the home owner.

Depending on the elevations on the roof, a cold roof could be the best answer. If you have dormers and roof to sidewall areas, a cold roof may not work depending on the elevations. A cold roof is basically a roof that is built elevated above the existing roof. Depending on the situation, one can add additional insulation and ventilation very easily, or just ventilation, if that is all that is needed. It can be an economical solution to fixing a big problem.