Howdy, all.

So I have a newly built home and noticed that the roof above the garage area looks to have some ventilation on the sides where I can see light getting in, but nothing on the roof at all. I grew up with vents, but I am not sure if this is a new form of ventilation. It gets extremely hot in there, more than makes me comfortable. I had a roofing guy knock on my door telling me it was done wrong and the roof will need work, but then again he was promoting his own business. My project manager told me (in a very unconfident tone) that it is "probably" fine. When driving though my neighborhood I see roofs with vents and some with none, so I cannot get an idea of the norm here.

Can anyone (calling Jason the roofing guy) tell me what their thoughts are? Is this an issue or is it fine? Thanks!

"The Money Pit" radio show and most everyone will agree
if you did not foam insulate/seal the attic THEN the only best system is
Continuous soffit venting +
Continuous ridge venting

The gable vents have recently become controversial
but the contrary studies ... have not been studied enough IMHO

Call Schulte Roofing if in Aggieland if out of Jason's area of service for an inspection and fix

Please PM me the builder's name

TheHoneybadger said:

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Howdy, all.

So I have a newly built home and noticed that the roof above the garage area looks to have some ventilation on the sides where I can see light getting in, but nothing on the roof at all. I grew up with vents, but I am not sure if this is a new form of ventilation. It gets extremely hot in there, more than makes me comfortable. I had a roofing guy knock on my door telling me it was done wrong and the roof will need work, but then again he was promoting his own business. My project manager told me (in a very unconfident tone) that it is "probably" fine. When driving though my neighborhood I see roofs with vents and some with none, so I cannot get an idea of the norm here.

Can anyone (calling Jason the roofing guy) tell me what their thoughts are? Is this an issue or is it fine? Thanks!

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So you don't have even ridge vents? The raised little strips at the top where the roof line meets at a point?

You probably wouldn't see light.

Nice chatting with you OP.

For anyone else that stumbles on this thread in the future, this is a useful link for determining ventilation requirements. I always encourage taking some data first, and if it isn't right, plug it in here and see if the ventilation might be something to look into.

https://www.owenscorning.com/en-us/roofing/components/vent-calculator

Most manufacturers have one, but this one offers both 1:150 and 1:300 options.

The vast majority of roofs are under ventilated. It is one of the most overlooked issues in home building. Builders are cheap and don't care. They hire cheap labor and order their own shingles. This is another good reason to make sure you have O&L in your insurance policy. That way if you have a storm, the insurance company will pay to bring you up to code. That is if you select a knowledgeable roofing company.

I see a lot of roofs on custom builds that, upon tear off, appeared to have good intentions of ventilation but must have run out of vents and just said to heck with it. I see holes 14" across that are just shingles over and a lot of ridge vent without any cut back decking as well.

It's crazy. It's also why I feel like I have to know about every trade when having something built….just to make sure it looks ok.

Our industry is a rough one. Most people are focused on sales, and not construction. And code is rarely checked or enforced on roofing.