Attic and roof ventilation for Jacksonville homes

Air comes in low, at the soffit vents under the eaves, and leaves high, through a ridge vent or other exhaust near the peak. Heat rising in the attic drives that flow. For it to work, the intake has to be open and roughly balanced with the exhaust, and each attic space should have one exhaust type.

Most problems are imbalance. Soffits painted over or blocked by insulation starve the system; a ridge vent added next to old turbines or gable vents lets exhaust pull from exhaust instead of from the soffits. We look at the whole path from eave to ridge before recommending anything.

A ridge vent is a continuous slot cut along the peak of the roof deck, covered by a vented cap that sheds rain and lets hot air out along the full length of the ridge. It is the most even exhaust for a gable or hip roof with enough ridge length. We cut the slot to the manufacturer's width, stop it short of the ends and any walls, and cap it with matching shingle or metal ridge.

Installed during a reroof it adds little cost; on an existing roof it means replacing the ridge caps.

Exhaust only works as well as the intake feeding it. Many soffits are solid, painted shut, or blocked from above by blown insulation packed against the roof deck. We open or replace soffit panels with vented ones, install baffles in the rafter bays so insulation stops at the eave without blocking air, and clear what can be cleared from the attic side.

On homes with little or no soffit overhang, low-profile intake vents near the eave do the same job.