The soffit vents of my house are stuffed with insulation which is very difficult to remove. I understand the U channel instilation is the solution. However, I don't understand how this solution works, what is the source of the outside air? What is the process for installing a U channel.
Answer:
If the upper attic cavity is properly vented, it will draw outside air up through the soffits and then circulate it to the outside. You may have to do a number on the soffits to get the insulation out of there. I'll include a paragraph here that I always put into my home inspection reports where I feel wooden soffits were left in place as vented soffits were installed. You'll be abl to relate the process to your own situation. Soffits (vented) appear to have been installed some time after the house was built. That may mean that the old, wooden soffit is still there under the vented product. If that's the case, the new components can be numbered and removed. Numbering makes it more convenient to re-install them. To ensure that they all go back the same way, a soft-lead pencil can be used to put a small mark on each second one and a corresponding mark on the siding. When pencil marks no longer align during re-installation, the installer can be sure that at least one panel was not put in precisely the same spot it was removed from. When all is re-installed, the pencil marks can be removed easily.
