Roof Ventilation For Vaulted Ceilings

Penetrations roof ventilation challenges common air leak points in ceilings pay special attention to penetrations in the ceiling plane particularly in cathedral ceilings.

Roof ventilation for vaulted ceilings.

When renovating an older home whose roof rafters are only 2x6 really 5 1 2 x 1 5 in dimension the available space for insulation and ventilation is limited therefore limiting the options for a combination of good under roof ventilation and high insulation r values in the cathedral ceiling. A ridge vent features an open strip along the length of the ridge where the air that enters the soffit can escape. In mixed climates ventilation serves either role depending on the season. It s better than having the water sandwiched between the sheathing and spray foam.

Ventilation of vaulted ceilings vaulted ceilings sometimes referred to as cathedral ceilings occur in steep slope roof assemblies in which there is no attic space between a ceiling and roof deck. Depending on your house interior and roof framing design cathedral ceiling ventilation can be treated as an independent or attic ventilation related condition. These assemblies pose unique ventilation problems. The air space above the insulation will provide some relief in the event of a roof leak even without ventilation.

As much as regular attic ventilation is an important part of your house maintenance routine and usually easy to perform cathedral ceiling ventilation maintenance might be difficult or even impossible to do. A key benefit of venting the attic is that the approach is the same regardless of how creative your architect got with the roof. Because the roof isn t in play here it doesn t matter how many hips valleys dormers or gables there are. A balanced system of soffit and ridge ventilation provides continuous ventilation of hot moist air at the hottest point of the roof.

Attic ventilation for cathedral and vaulted ceilings require attic baffle vents with v baffe s design you can quickly and easily retrofit cathedral and vaulted ceilings that would otherwise have been next to impossible. As for how much insulation to use the minimum would be a 2 inch board which will get you about r 12 plus a little extra from the foil facing. In a vaulted roof a ridge vent serves as the outtake or exhaust vent. Chimneys recessed lights plumbing chases and holes drilled through top plates for plumbing or wiring should all be sealed figure 2 53 at left.