… Attic Monster
Ventilating
Attic ventilation is the process of creating air flow through your attic, using low venting and high venting. Most attics in our climate zone rely on passive venting – a natural process where warmer air rises and gets replaced with colder air from below. Another main contributor to ventilation is wind. Low venting typical- ly includes perforated soffit panels and high venting can include box vents or ridge vents. Proper ventilation will help increase colder and dryer attic space conditions; however, the key contributors are proper air sealing and insulating.
Together, proper insulating, air sealing, and ventilating can provide you with optimal attic conditions – mak- ing your attic monster very happy! It will increase resident comfort, improve your building’s performance, and increase the service life of your shingles and other roof components. Figure 6: Good vs. Bad Ventilation.
What can an Engineering Consultant do for you?
Have your attic space and roof shingles reviewed by your engineering consultant prior to setting final project budg- ets. This review will provide the Board with critical information on how your attic monster is feeling – and how your attic is performing – before you undertake repairs. It is far more economical to complete attic repairs or upgrades in combination with a shingle replacement project. This allows contractors to remove or repair damaged roof sheathing and provides easy access to your attic from the outside! No need to have contractors fighting through that attic hatch in your closet. Finally, reviewing and upgrading your attic with a re-roofing project will ensure you are maximizing your new roof’s service life and optimizing your investment. It may also make sense for you to review and upgrade your attic during government home-efficiency rebate programs – when you can recuperate some of the upfront costs, and then reap the long-term energy benefits.
Want to Learn More? Edison Engineers can assist you through this process; just give us a call or email! Greg Corbiere, B.E.Sc., P.Eng. can be reached at gcorbiere@edisonengineers.ca or 226- 580-6185.
GC, KB
16 — 2019/2020 - 4
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker