wrote:

Just bought a house in New England.

Woburn Mass?

The home inspector said the attic ventilation was inadequate.
First, the ridge vent wasn't big enough. Second, he said there were
no soffit vents.

Just eyeballing things from underneath, the eves are very, very
narrow. How could soffit vents be installed if there's almost no
soffit?

Look at this picture and tell us what type of roof you have:

http://cloud.homedesignersoftware.co...oof-styles.gif

If you have a gable roof, or gambrel roof (sorta looks like a barn roof)
then you install vents in the gable ends.

If you have a hipped roof (with no gable ends) then unless there is
absolutely no soffit possibility (ie - there is no roof overhang) then I
guess you could install vents along the lower edge of the roof line:

http://www.single-family-home-remode...roof-vents.jpg

I've never seen vents like that installed along the *lower* edge of a
roof line, but it might be your only option if you really don't have any
roof overhang where you can install intake vents.

Also, is a roofer the best type of contractor to look at attic
ventilation?

Roofer's typically don't know **** when it comes to engineering new
ventilation solutions. They can replicate what was there originally
when replacing a roof, and they can replicate what they've seen on other
jobs.