Roof Woes

hobbyguy2002

Ok here is the question or questions-- I am not sure where this will go. Sorry if I ramble a bit I need a little therapy. We are embarking on our first large projects which began as a new roof which at first we looked at putting tamko metal slate but now with needed siding we think we are going to go with asphalt since metal roof quote came in at $18,000 and tear off 30 year elk or certinteed roofing is around $5000 we can’t justify metal and will be able to put on several asphalt roof even with inflation before we recoup the metal. But our vinyl siding is cheap fading and oil canning because I think the old owner put the siding on one afternoon with his buddy’s while drinking their lunch. So with money saved we can re-roof and reside. We have lived in our house about 9 years and here is the history. The house built in 1992 was a “project” by the former owner who I think was either cheap or broke because or what I have spent the last 9 years fixing and updating. We knew that the house was not the best but the foundation and for the most part it is in good shape I just see a lot of cut corners that can be fixed. I can’t beat the location we have 13 wooded acres that are surrounded by hundreds of wooded acres. We live at the end of a private road that has 4 houses and is built to the limit. Here we go. The house is a two story with attic space over the rooms and the family room has a cathedral ceiling with a wood burning stove that we use as our heat for the most part. We do have forced gas if needed. The house is about 3200 sq foot with the finished walkout basement. Last spring I found a lot of mold and mildew in the attic above the rooms. The area that was the worst was of course in a corner of the attic where two bathrooms butt up. WE are pretty good about using the bathroom vents which are vented through a sidewall outside( I had to do that) The attic had about R-11 insulation we live in Michigan so I sprayed the mildew with a light bleach and water spray over the course of a few days and it disappeared. I than this fall add another R-30 of un-faced insulation to the attic space. I still feel some moister in that corner and can’t figure out why but it is better. The attic has ridge vents and soffit intakes which I had to pull the old insulation back out of. I also added baffles vents to the rafters. I am not sure if air is flowing well or if the ridge vents are the best but things seem better. Over my cathedral ceiling where the wood stove is we get some icedaming at the gutters. The cathedral ceiling has ridge vents as well but the ceiling rafters are packed full of insulation with no baffle ( I pulled the sofit off and looked it also has a skylight which would interrupt part the rafters. My question here is since we are going with asphalt shingles when we tear off would it be worth pulling up the sheeting and dropping baffles in as many rafter runs as I can over the cathedral ceiling. I can’t imagine that would be a huge cost as I think this something I could even do before the roofer does his thing. (also side note) in some of my inspections I have discover that the cathedral ceiling roof which the shingles are curling the worst on the house has no tar paper the shingles are right over the roof deck. I am sure the shingles look the worst because they don’t have air under them. Thank goodness we have not had any leaks. After re reading this I am not sure if I have asked a question or not. I guess the question is in regards to the cathedral ceiling should I try to vent as much as possible to “cool” the roof. And over the attic space should I be ok with ridge and soffit vents to get the max air flow. I should also mention that the breeze tends to come out of the west and our sidewalls are on the east and west side so if I am re siding would gable and soffit vents work better.

Ed the Roofer

Theory is split regarding the requirement of ventilation in a tightly packed rafter bay cathedral/vaulted ceiling scenario, but most ventilaton studies still suggest it will provide assistance, just not as much as in an open attic.

Order or download the free ventilation brochure from www.AirVent.com regarding Hip Roofs. On the back page, they discuss ventilating cathedral ceilings with obstructions, such as skylights, in the way.

You will have to do what you stated, plus drill 6 of 1" diameter holes in each side adjoining rafter to allow for a slight cross ventilation in the dead air flowage rafters which run into the skylight framing, both on the bottom side and the top side.

Although their are some proponents on not ventilating this situation, I have seen from personal experience, the moisture created in the rafter bays, the decking swelling and buckling and the shingles decaying prematurely, so I say, go ahead and vent it properly.

Ed

theroofinggod

you need at least 1/2" space for air traffic in a cathedral ceiling,go w/the ridge vent(w/external baffle),and soffit vents

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Ed the Roofer

Air Vent says a minimum of 1" to 1 1/2" space is required while cor-a-vent states 2" minimum. This is achieved by the usage of the insulation baffles discussed previously.

See the photo insert on the last page of this brochure.
http://www.airvent.com/pdf/literatur...s_HipRoofs.pdf

See page 4 of this brochure also, right under the 3 captioned airflow diagrams.
http://www.coravent.com/pdf/S-4004P.pdf

Ed

hobbyguy2002

thanks for such quick helpful info. Another question as I am looking at those pictures on cor-a-vent's info page it looks as if the raffter vents run the whole length of the raffter am I correct that I should put vents all the way up the raffter until it reaches the ridge vent? Also should I do the same in my traditional attic. right now in my attic I just put one vent in each rafter bay holding back the insulation from the soffit should I go higher with them? thanks I have time to think about the roof project, since we just got another 5 inches of snow. on saturday it was 45 and I was ready to start this project Friday's high will be 19 wow! Have to love Michigan four seasons usually all in one day.

tinner666

I've pulled every other course of plywood and slid the baffles in sucessfully and easily. If the nails aren't too deep, I use an antique looking nail puller ( still made and sold) that works like an auto-body slide hammer for pulling dents. Set it beside the nail, slide the hammer down and it bites under the nailhead, A lever there will exert more bite as you pull the hammer towards you and remove the nail. I use it extensively when repairing T & G flooring too.

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Ed the Roofer

[quote=hobbyguy2002;357056]

it looks as if the raffter vents run the whole length of the raffter am I correct that I should put vents all the way up the raffter until it reaches the ridge vent?

Also should I do the same in my traditional attic. right now in my attic I just put one vent in each rafter bay holding back the insulation from the soffit should I go higher with them?

quote]

On the cathedral/vaulted ceiling, you need to run the insulation baffle vents continuously from the soffit vents, which need to be 100% vented by the way, all the way to the ridge vent.

For the open attic area, just at the bottom, where the insulation could potentially block the soffit vents and make sure the insulation is not covering the vent holes or slot.

Ed

Tom M

You can pull the fascia board during the siding and slide baffles up from there PITA. I ve done it and used a longbroom handle or something to push down a little to gain some air space. It will help. Also if above your bathroom is the main area of mold I would check to see it the duct is partially disconnected or if the there is too large a gap between around the fan itself and the drywall. Moisture could be accelerating from there.

theroofinggod

certainteed quotes 1/2 " air space Ed

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Ed the Roofer

I am going to have to look that up now, since Air Vent used to be a subsidiary company of Certainteed, almost all specifications are identical between the 2 entities, even though Air Vent currently is a susidiary of Gibraltar.

If you have the link handy which states that, then I would be appreciative for seeing it.

That 1 1/2" to 2" requirement, is why I doubted you on the proper amount of airflow of that soffit ventilation thread the other week, where you attached thaty photo ot the large porch soffit material you installed.
from Little Eddie

Ed

Jack3185

So now im living in Vermont, and Im not used to seeing all this Metal roofing, so I think to myself, Im gonna be screwed if I have a chimney to top out and no idea how to stage the roof to get material up there or to make a place to work. Does anyone know what my options are?

neolitic

Try a new posting in the masonry forum.
Guys there would probably have some ideas too.
Welcome to CT

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(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

theroofinggod

go check out the certainteed certification courses you posted,look at the attic in particular

__________________
"If it`s worth doing.It`s worth doing right!!!

www.ADVANCEDROOFINGNEWYORK.com