Ren: Your radio show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is a taped version and played Saturday PM. I really miss your program. I use a wheelchair and cannot do many things myself. I am vulnerable to opinions of others; some who are excellent others questionable. After hearing your program over the years I have seen many consistencies that allow me to trust your advice. My problem is that I have received several recommendations to create better air circulation in my attic. My home is 60 feet long by 24 feet wide with a 30 X 24 foot living room 'teed' from the centre of the main part. There are three gabled ends. I had two power vents on the roof when I moved into the house. Two years ago one collapsed and rain came in through the living room ceiling which is stained. (How can I get the water stain out?) The soffit vents (16 in all) have been boxed in. The only source of make up air are through the three gable vents. One contractor recommended I get rid of the power vents and install gravity vents. I did this and the heat build up was even worse in the living area of the house. On your radio show I've heard you repeatedly tell people to install soffit ventilation. I hired a contractor last summer to put in soffit vents. However, he convinced me what I needed was not soffit vents but 4 whirley-birds. One in the centre and three at each end. I did this and the heat build up continues. I contacted a fellow and he emphatically stated that I need the soffit vents. I have contacted three more contactors for quotes to put in 16 soffit vents. They all have come back with different solutions. They all say that the slope of the roof is so low approximately 18 inches at the centre. (These are prefab truses) About 12 inches if insulation has been blown in. They say it is almost impossible to get soffit vents in past the insulation. If they use pipes it, they would need to be about 15 feet long. None of the three want to go with the soffit vents. One guaranttees all problems will be resolved by installing two powered gable vents (one at each end of the long section of the house). These would be 350 to 500 CFM and thermostatically controlled to kick in at 90 degrees. Another disagrees in what happens to the air flow in the centre stating we are creating a negative pressure at that poinr and will only exhaust at the gable ends. The other one suggests a centre whirly bird and putting a "chimney" type structure to have the whirley birds draw outside air from the roof line and down as low to the insulation as possible.
Ren, I know this has been long but I've seen the small openings in the trusses in the garage and no one could crawl through them. How would they insert soffit vents? Is it possible? Is it the answer? The contractor recommending and the powered gable vents said he's done this for 16 years and will guarantee it will work. I tried to phone you for help and I hope you can give me some advice.
Keep up the excellent work. I catch your show when I can.
Answer:
I normally respond only to questions taking up half a monitor screen or less. I get a lot of questions and time becomes a serious consideration. Let's take these things one at a time.
The stain on the ceiling will be covered by a good stain deadening paint and that's available at your local paint store. Then you can paint over it.
Soffit venting can be done properly when the hole is cut for your new vents, U chanels can be installed to ensure unobstructed air movement up into the attic cavity. If there are already vents there, that means they can be installed and all it takes is a bit of extra effort. Yours is about the only case in the past few years where I would reccomend the whirly bird vents and I would want one centred on each of the three wings.
