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roofing question....

toad67toad67 Member Posts: 13,008 ✭✭✭✭
edited November 2019 in General Discussion
The time has come, unfortunately, that our shingles have failed after only 11 years. Since we bought the house when it was a year old, we are the second owners and the warranty doesn't transfer to us. In the last 11 years the requirements for attic ventilation has changed with the big concern of mold. We have gotten three quotes, and two of them are pretty close. The main difference is that the attic ventilation needs to be upgraded and the two Companies want to go at it from different angles. Making it as close as I can between the two with a new ridge vent installed, one contractor wants to install new vented bird blocks on the bottom of the rafters, and the other one wants to install little "eye brows" at the bottom of the roof instead of bird blocks, along with baffles up to the ridge vent. My thoughts are telling me to go with the "eye brows" rather than punching out, and installing 30 new bird blocks. I think the baffles would be a better system, plus, the house was painted 3 years ago and still looks new. All of the bird blocks would need to be painted. Thoughts? TIA..
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Comments

  • allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,692 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I have a lot of experience in this field and yes, for shingles to fail in 11 years means the attic ventilation is not done right. The same exact thing happened to one of my girlfriend's rental houses, but, that was 20 years ago. I don't know that the specs on attic ventilation have changed in 11 years, your attic would not have met the specs of 20 years ago. It is surprisingly common to see improper attic ventilation.

    What is a bird block and what is an eyebrow? I know about soffit vents and I have installed a lot of them.
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  • buschmasterbuschmaster Member Posts: 14,229 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I think when you say "vented bird blocks on the bottom of the rafter" you are talking about soffit vents.

    I don't know what the eyebrow things are, but I would go with the more conventional soffit vents because it sounds like they have more adequate ventilation, and spread it around the attic.

    don't worry about painting. good ventilation is the priority even if it costs more money. you don't want your roof to rot.

    11 years on a set of shingles aint bad. that's about average for average shingles. have seen cheap shingles do a lot worse. you can replace with the same, or they have 20- or 30-year guarantee shingles that cost more. I'd skip the tear-off and just overlay another set of 10-year shingles. that's a common approach that adds more protection but more weight (if you have to worry about snow) may make your roof sag a bit (or not) and some insurance companies don't like that.

    when they "fail", they get crumbly and the tabs rise up like a cup. that's what happens when they get old. you can see it from the ground. if you are talking about something else, you are talking about something else.
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  • nmyersnmyers Member Posts: 16,892 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    It sounds like your current roof is "open rafter" construction, which is not common everywhere. Yes, you probably need ventilation chutes leading up to the vents at the peak. Bird blocks are probably difficult to install unless you are replacing the plywood.

    I live where summers are really hot. I gave up on passive venting, & installed a powered roof fan on the back side of the roof near the peak. I installed a large screened vent on the end of the attic to allow cooler air to come in. That worked great, only had to replace the fan every 15-20 years.

    Neal
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  • Quick&DeadQuick&Dead Member Posts: 1,466 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Several roofers have told me the worse thing for attic venting is the ridge vent system.

    Vents in the soffitt and several individual passive vents below the ridge line are superior to a ridge vent. The number and placement depend on roof size, configeration, etc.
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  • asopasop Member Posts: 9,019 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    The premise to venting that space is to have air come in from the soffit areas and have it pass out either thru ridge vents, gable louvers or sheet metal vents in the slope areas of he roof. Fans are great but if properly designed should not be necessary. Never heard that ride vents were not a good solution?!
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  • RIA10MMRIA10MM Member Posts: 225 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Go with the company offering the bird stop. 12 years with largest roofing company in Fl.
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  • toad67toad67 Member Posts: 13,008 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Sorry guys, I had to go and get some things done. When I use the term "bird blocks", I am referring to the blocks between the rafter tails above the top of the wall with the holes cut in them for ventilation. To me, soffit vents are perpendicular sheeting with the top of the wall, and extend out to the eave behind the gutter and have a continuous vent screen. So if I used the wrong term for that I apologize. The term "eye brows" are a newer venting system that is cut into the roof above the attic insulation layer that parallels the gutter line. It is cut over the rafters that don't have their own bird blocks. Baffles are then slid down from the ridge vent cut, creating a dead air space between the insulation and the roof sheeting allowing air to travel up and out. These are mostly used where there are vaulted ceilings, and no open rafters. My thought was that if they needed to install more soffit vents, then that would create more work and expense.

    After looking for something to post, I found this website. Looks like the proper term for my "bird blocks" would be under eave intake vents, and soffit vents are continuous. The eye brow vents are the left picture.

    https://cansave.ca/lomanco-ventilation/intake-vents/
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