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[email protected] tbasc@bellsouth.net is offline
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Default Attic ventilation problem


sserrels wrote:
My house is one half of a prefab duplex from the 80's. Last week I went
into the attic and found mold covering the roof sheathing. It had not
been there a few weeks earlier. The attic is supposed to be vented by
soffit vents and ridge vent, but I found that the air is not flowing up
from the soffit to the ridge like it should. The only moving air in the
attic is the air blowing in from the ridge vent. The soffits are
blocked by fiberglass batts and an additional layer of blown in
insulation. So there's practically no ventilation.

Now here's the problem: the roof pitch is something like 2/12 and the
rafters (except those at the soffit vent) run parallel to the ridge.
The pitch is so shallow that I can't get any closer than maybe 10 feet
away from the soffit vent from inside the attic. I can't clear out the
insulation blocking the vents. Plus, if I did remove the insulation,
the ceilings of the rooms below would be exposed and uninsulated for a
couple of feet from the outside wall.

I'm considering buying an electric attic fan and just forgetting the
soffit vent. Any ideas?

Shawn

,
Since there was no mold on the roof deck "a few weeks ago",
The problem may well be lack of vapor retarder at the ceiling level.
It's possible the cool deck has led to condensation and mold growth.

By force venting the attic space, you will be drawing in air from
someplace,
perhaps the house.
TB