Another Roofing Question

[Joe Suelter]

Sorry for the second roofing question today, but "tis the season". I have had 4 contractors out to bid the roof job on my house. Each of the four have told me different stories regarding ridge vents. Our house is a cape cod style house, with a finished atic, meaning the original owner put drywall over the rafters. Will we benefit at all from ridge vents? One comapny said we would benefit if we also installed vented soffits. I've done a couple roofs, and they are not fun, I would do this one except it is a 12/12 pitch and a 3-layer tear-off. Another question I have about this is the shingles, a contractor told me that the "shaked" shingles were stronger/last longer than 3-tab, due to the fact that they are laminated together, they wont curl up as bad after many years. Do any of you buy into this? Thanks a bunch for lany help you can provide.

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[Dennis Peacock]

Here is the mid-south roof and attic ventilation is a big plus as it helps to keep the roof temps down and assists in helping the roof to last longer. I installed ridge vents on my last house and was very pleased with the overall results. Here where we are, ridge vents and soffit vents are a good thing. I don't know so much about where you are with the "best thing to do" but you now know about what the usual thing to do is where the temps are warm for a lot longer that the northern states.

In general, a shingle is a shingle......There are long life shingles like the Timber Line of shingles....usually a 50 year shingle and cost is more than standard shingles. If cost is a concern, then the standard shingle is the way to go....unless you are going to live in the same house for the rest of your life.

Just my 2¢ worth.

[Rob Russell]

Joe,

You absolutely want to vent your roof with ridge and soffit vents. In the climates where you get snow - you want a cold roof during the winter months. That's how you prevent ice-damming.

If your attic is finished, you want a ridge vent cut in along the entire ridge. Soffit vents can be installed by drilling 2-3" holes and plugging them with screen caps (keeps the bugs out). The key thing is t make sure you have airflow underneath the roof so air can evacuate the heated air out the ridge vent.

As Dennis pointed out - that will help keep the house cooler in the summer. In the winter time, you don't want the roof to heat up because that will melt the snow sitting on the shingles. That water runs down the roof, hits the cold gutters, freezes and creates an ice dam. You prevent that by venting the roof so it stays cold. Drive through a neighborhood a week after a snow storm. The "best" roof is the one with the most snow on it.

I didn't r3ead your earlier thread, so it f this is a repeat - sorry. Don't forget ice and water shield for the first 3' and in a valleys. Any good contractor will spec that but yous hould doublecheck to make sure.

Rob

[Dr. Zack Jennings]

I didn't think a ridge vent had a way to draw air from the soffits if the attic was finished, unless chases were installed between the rafters.

I eat breakfast with a family of roofers every morning. I've heard them say time and again 3 tab shingles last as long, 20-25 years, as the more expensive Architectural style.

[Bob Boake]

Ridge vents and soffit vents work in tandem. Heat limits the lifetime of a roof. Cooler air enters the soffit vents and flows up the inside of the roof and leaves via the ridge vents. To be effective there must be a small space for the air to flow between the insulation and the underside of the roof decking.

[Lee Schierer]

The roof vent and perforated soffit will do nothing at all unless the air can get from the soffit to the peak . You indicated that the ceilinfg was finished in the roof area. If they put in spacers to keep the insulation away from the roof sheating you are in business. If they stuffed the rafters full with insulation leaving no air space the full length, then you have a problem that cannot be corrected by adding roof vents.

Allowing air flow under the roof will prolong the life of the roof considerably. If the insulation is tight against the roof sheathing, it actually holds the heat in the roof and makes the shingles degrade faster.

The side benifit of ventilating the attic is the roof stays cooler in the winter and you won't get ice dams and the whole house will stay cooler in the summer.

[John Longwitz]

...have stated repeatedly that the standard 20 year 3 tabs are the way to go unless you want to pay extra for style. Their contention is that the binders for the granules are the limiting factor on life and 20 years is stretching it no matter how much you pay. YMMV. Ridge vents need soffit vents for proper air flow. There are places to get info on how much sq inch venting you need in the soffits for the volume of attic. I prefer ridge venting over any other method.

[Peter Lyon]

Joe,

Count me in as another who believes that a ridge vent is only part of a system. The other equally important parts are the soffit vent and airflow space between the two. Without all three working in concert, they're individually pretty worthless.

I also agree with the statement that the architectual style composition roofing will resist curling (to a degree) better then standard three tab. Also, keep in mind you can find these products in fiberglass or asphalt. The main difference being that asphalt is preferred for high wind areas.

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Joe. I completely agree with using the ridge vent IF you have the soffit vent to go with it. You didn't say if you were going to re-deck the roof, but it might be worth lifting a piece of the decking to see how the insulation was applied. If you re-deck, then you can put the little plastic eaves vents between the decking and the insulation.

Regarding the type of roofing material, there are only 3 things to look at:

1) how long is the warranty, 25, 30, 50 years?

2) what is the fire rating, only class A, the highest, is acceptable.

3) what is the wind rating, level 4, 110 mph, is the best.

After that pick you color, but not a dark color. Dark colors absorb heat!

When we built this last year, I went with a shingle made in Portland Oregon: http://www.malarkey-rfg.com . Their Legacy 50 yr, fire 'A', level 4 wind, shingles. Yes, they cost more, but they also got me 35% reduction on my home owners insurance! The expected pay back is about 4 years.

Hope this helps :)

[Michael Cody]

In Illinois --- you need vent if you can do it...

1. is there airflow from the soffit to the ridge, if so, then you put in the ridge vent, if not it will do no good. If the ceiling is finished, you need to lift some decking to see what's in the joist bays. If it's full of insulation, venting will do no good.

2. Buy shingles by warranty and the look you desire.. Ken has the right info there.

3. I am in favor of dark shingles if your roof has trees around it, if not then go light.. of course you have to look at what your house will look like too. If you have trees and such, a dark roof will get hotter and keep down moss -- not perfectly but it will grow less. The roof will last longer. You can off course do things like put in a zinc strip 2-3 courses down on each side to wash down the roof in minute amount to keep off the moss.. a lot depends of if you have moss problems.

4. The roofers are selling a line on some stuff, right on others. Sounds like they have a system they like & stick with it. They should not have recommended the ridge vent unless they know your joist bays will flow air, did they even look?? Do you current have any attic ventilation?? Maybe it's time to look at other methods. The issue on the shingles, that's more of a personal preference.. me I would go w/20-25 year 3 tabs unless you like the look of the more architectural styles... then that is a design call, not a functional one. No roof lasts much over 20 years unless it's metal, tile or slate.

[Gary Hern]

You have a lot of good advice here, but good luck digging through it! A couple of things that I didn't see mentioned are, moisture and decking costs. Moisture buildup under your roof decking can be ad destructive as anything that has been posted here. The largest percentage of humidity from inside your home exits through the top. If there isn't a way for the water to evaporate, it'll start rotting/delaminating your decking. Your decking can litterally rot from the underside up. With the finished attic, lack of ventilation, and the possibility of no air channel between the insulation and your roof deck, you could be in for additional expense in re-decking your entire house. Get some prices for decking up front so your not in for a major surprise. I've seen companies charge from $30.00/ sheet to $2.50/ square foot. The numbers should be lower if you ahve them on your contract up front. If this is the case, make them tear the old deck off and install the panning under the decking if it isn't already there. Some people say this is useless, but if they use duct tape to hold it in place till the decking is laid, it'll work. I guess the biggest thing is how long you are planning on being there. I tore off a roof on a hail damage this last year that was a 10/12 and the houes was built 6 years ago. The 1/2" decking was gone on the west side where the trees kept it shaded in the afternoon. We did as I described above installing the air channel, installing ridge vent and drilling the soffit. Sometimes the heat (dark shingles) can be good for getting rid of the moisture. I agree Ken on the shingle warranty! It will be the deciding factor in how long they will last. The architectural shingles will carry longer warranties, look better (IMHO), and last longer, but are more expensive.

Good luck,
Gary

[Ken Garlock]

If you redeck your roof, do go with a "cool ply" type decking. It is plywood with an aluminum foild applied to the attic side of the sheet. It will help your insulation but does require about 2 or 3 inches of air space to be most effective. The "cool ply" or "Kool Ply" maybe brand names, but if you talk to any roofer or lumber yard person, they will know what you mean. :)

Good Luck....

[Joe Suelter]

Thanks for the great tips, guys. I think I will go ahead and have them install the ridge vents, and I think I'll re-do the attic. Where the walls come up now to the peak, they butted the drywayy together, then nailed an oak 1x6 along the ceiling, this is where the lights are mounted. I think I'll come down a few more inches and put up some drywall, maybe 18'' accross, then put in some vents every few feet, so the hot air will have an escape route, then in the winter, we can close the vents to prevent heat loss. Thanks again for the suggestions.

[Joe Suelter]

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[PeterTorresani]

I've talked to two dealer reps on the life of shingles. There is no difference between 3-tab and architectural style.

If your builder prefers the architectural style, it is most likely due to the lower labor. Most roofer (honest ones, anyway) will tell you there is a 10%-15% reduction in time required with the architectural style due to the alignment issues. It's also easier to hide mistakes.