soup wrote:
"sserrels" wrote in message
ups.com...
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

there are things you can cram in between the rafters to open up a channel
for air to flow. polystyrene. see if you can't get them in between the
insulation and the deck


Yes, if it will work, it's worth a try. They sell these chute type
widgets you are referring to at building supply/home centers. They get
stapled to the underside of the roof sheathing, between the rafters.
But in this case, he might be able to work them in by sliding them
after using a rake or similar to try to clear the end of the channel.

If that doesn't work, then I'd probably consider gable end vents on
both ends. That together with the ridge might be enough. I'd go with
a power fan as the last solution, because it uses power and without air
intake somewhere, it's going to either not work very well or suck air
from the living space. If you get a fan, you obviously need one that
goes on with humidity as well as temp.