Flower Mound Home › Roof & Wall Work › Attic Ventilation
Attic Ventilation in Flower Mound
In a town of slab houses the attic does the storage, and in a North Texas summer it is the hottest room in the building. Air moving through it is part of the roof.
In Brief
A vented attic takes air in low, at the soffits, and lets it out high, at or near the ridge.
When either end is blocked or missing, heat and moisture stay under the deck and the shingles age faster.
Vents are cut in or closed off during a re-roof, so a roof replaced in a hurry after the 2023 storm is worth a look from inside.
How It Is Supposed to Work
Hot air rises. Openings under the eaves let outside air in; openings at the top let attic air out; the difference in height keeps it moving without a motor. The two sides need to be roughly in balance. Plenty of exhaust with no intake pulls conditioned air up from the house through every ceiling gap. Plenty of intake with no exhaust does very little.
Intake
Perforated soffit panels or individual soffit vents. Insulation blown into the attic can drift over them from the inside; a foam or cardboard chute between the rafters keeps a channel open.
Exhaust
A continuous ridge vent under the ridge caps, a row of box vents near the ridge, or wind turbines. Mixing types on one roof can make one vent feed another instead of drawing from the soffits, so installers usually pick one.
Signs Something Is Off
- The second floor is much hotter than the first and the system runs constantly on summer afternoons.
- Shingles on the sunniest slopes are curling or blistering years before the others.
- Rusty nail tips or dark staining on the underside of the deck, seen from the attic.
- Soffit vents painted shut, or soffit panels that are solid all the way around.
- After a re-roof, fewer vents on the roof than before, or a ridge vent laid over a ridge that was never cut open.
Why It Belongs With the Roof Job
Cutting a ridge slot, adding box vents or replacing old turbines is simple when the shingles are off and awkward once they are on. If you are getting quotes for a replacement, ask each contractor to state what ventilation is there now and what they would change. If the roof was replaced recently, a contractor can check from the attic whether the ridge was opened under the vent.
Shingle manufacturers generally make adequate attic ventilation a condition of their warranties. Ask the contractor to confirm the roof meets the manufacturer's requirement, in writing.
Questions on This Page
Will better ventilation lower my electric bill?
It can take some load off the cooling system, but insulation depth and duct leakage usually matter more. No savings figure is promised here.
Are powered attic fans a good idea?
Opinions differ. They move a lot of air, and if intake is short they pull that air from inside the house. Ask what the contractor would do about intake first.
My house has a radiant barrier. Does it still need vents?
Yes. A radiant barrier reduces heat coming through the deck; it does not remove moisture or replace air movement.
Have the Attic Side Checked
Mention how the upstairs feels in July and whether the roof is new.
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