Venting your garage roof is one of the best things you can do to ensure you have proper airflow. Although most people think it’s not mandatory to vent a garage roof, I think it’s an essential factor to consider.
You shouldn’t do it if the roof isn’t insulated and the attic space is open to the main floor. This is because there is enough air circulating through space. However, it’s always recommended to consider venting anywhere you feel like you need fresh air circulation in your home.
The advantage of ventilation is that it significantly benefits a roof when the outside air is too hot. Poorly ventilated attics lack an escape route for the heat, and this makes it build up and become unbearable to stay in that space or garage. The heat buildup can damage the shingles from the inside out. But, it will allow the heat to escape and keep the roof cooler if you vent your roof.
When it comes to ventilation, it’s important to follow the right tips and steps to ensure you’re doing it right. In this post, I’ll show you some of the best things you need to know and how to go about the process of venting your garage roof properly.
The Two Styles of Ventilation
We’ll discuss two basic ventilation styles here, which you can use to ventilate your garage roof. However, there are still many other ways you can do it – provided you conduct thorough research and ensure the way you employ is ideal depending on your roof.
Installation of Windows
The first and most obvious option is to install windows in your garage. The good thing about windows is that they allow fresh air from outside and warm air from inside to escape.
If you’re converting your garage, this can be a great option to consider. However, before undertaking that initiative, it’s crucial to ensure you know what you’re doing and avoid causing more damages or doing it wrong.
If you find it difficult to do it yourself, you can hire a professional to do the work for you. Also, you have to ensure that you select an energy-efficient window to install in your garage. Another thing you need to note is that if your garage happens to have a flat roof, you should consider installing a flat roof window.
If your garage has a pitched roof, it’s important to install a roof window facing the south to maximize the sunlight entering during the daytime. This is mostly important for garages where you need comfort and a welcoming atmosphere. You can do it internally by marking the rafters to position the windows to install windows.
Once you’ve done that, you can expose and remove the roof covering until you have an ideal opening. However, keep in mind that it can be tricky to choose the right window, so you need to take your time.
Consider Fitting Vents
This style of ventilation is ideal for a garage that already has windows. It’s also suitable for someone working under a tight budget. The benefit of this method is that it offers a long-term and reliable ventilation solution and is also suitable for a garage refurb.
Below are some of the options to consider for fitting vents.
Soffit Vents
You can find soffit vents in either circular or continuous styles. They integrate perfectly into soft systems. These vents can come in handy when you want to vent your garage roof and are also pretty affordable. The most common soffit vents are vented soffit boards, which are suitable for retrofits and often used as part of a solid home ventilation system.
Tile or Slate Vents
Roof or slate vents are specifically designed to use together with the rest of your roof. They are designed to offer quality and can easily blend into your roofline. Additionally, you can connect tile or slate vents to soil pipes or extract pipes or fans to offer a stronger and reliable ventilation experience.
Breather Vents
The third option is to use breather vents, which are designed for flat roofs. This is because they help reduce moisture and condensation buildup, which may damage your roof. Breather vents have been meticulously engineered to use with any single-ply or multi-layer flat roofing system easily. They are comfortable, efficient, reliable, and affordable to consider.
Airbricks
Airbricks are also ideal to consider and use since they have perforated holes and are designed to use together with underfloor ventilation. Some airbricks are also quite versatile, and you can use them alongside custom-made accessories or adaptors, depending on your preferences.
What Happens If Garage Roof Doesn’t Have Proper Venting?
The simplest answer to this question is that a poorly ventilated garage roof is bad news because it has plenty of disadvantages. One negative effect of having a garage that doesn’t have proper venting is that the fumes and chemicals emanating from your vehicle and other machinery that you operate in your garage may cause danger if they creep into other parts of your home.
That means your house will have a risk of people inhaling dangerous fumes and gases, which may lead to sicknesses and other issues brought about by the toxic fumes. This is why you need to consider properly venting your garage roof.
If your garage roof isn’t properly ventilated, it can also reduce its life. If you’ve ever seen icicles build up on the edges of gutters and roofs, then you would understand why I’m saying your roof life may be reduced. Although you can’t see the damages immediately, with time, things start to unfold, and you begin to see the negative effects.
When the ice builds up, and the heat from inside your house causes it to melt, the resulting water flows to the edge of your roof and starts to refreeze. This causes damages to your entire roof system, attic, as well as inside the walls of your home.
With proper ventilation, you can enable the warm air to escape before getting the chance to melt the snow and ice on the roof. It’s easy to identify a well-vented roof during the winter because it may have snow but not an icicle.
Another thing that happens if your roof is not well vented is that it can increase your energy costs. When the temperature rises outside, it’s obvious you want to stay cool inside. However, if your roof is not well vented, it won’t allow heat to escape, which eventually increases your air conditioner’s workload. But, the opposite happens if your roof is well ventilated.
When your garage roof doesn’t have proper venting, it increases indoor temperature extremes. Poorly vented roofs usually bring about extreme indoor temperatures. That’s because if your roof isn’t well vented, it won’t allow any air to escape – whether cool or warm air.
Therefore, this will end up making your home uncomfortable or unbearable to stay in. Venting your roof appropriately will eliminate such issues and help you live in a comfortable environment.
Most Common Types of Roof Vents
There are many types of roof vents to consider out there. However, in this section, I’ll highlight some of the most common ones you may want to consider for your garage roof.
Power Vents
These types of vents are circular-shaped with low profiles that you see on most roofs. Power vents are mostly installed close to the ridge (top) of the roof, and they use electricity to pull hot air from the attic. However, during the winter, it’s important to run the power vents with a humidistat.
This is because without doing that, the humidity will build up in your attic, thereby causing condensation and shortening the lifespan of your roof. You should also be aware that power vents motors can fail, which means they may need replacement once in a while.
Turbine Vents
Turbine vents are also called “whirlybirds.” They function by employing a drawing effect through heat rising (convection) to move air in your attic even when there isn’t any wind. If you install this type of vent, the air in your attic moves approximately 10 to 12 times per hour. Turbine vents tend to have slats on them, and they are also open-aired to the attic.
There is a myth that rain, insects, and snow can enter your home if you have turbine vents installed in your home. But, that isn’t true because they are designed to prevent anything like that from happening unless the vents happen to be damaged.
Ridge Vents
Ridge vents are a common feature in most modern homes. They are exhaust types of vents that feature an aluminum cap, which goes all the way to the peak of the roofline. The gap cap formed on either side of the vent allows air to escape from the attic while still preventing rainwater. Once you install ridge vents, a layer of shingles covers the vent.
One thing that makes these types of vents efficient is their length. They also have a design that keeps them hidden, which makes them quite popular in modern homes.
Box Vents
Box vents are similar to power vents and wind turbines. They use the natural power of the wind to eliminate heat and moisture. They work best alongside soffit vents, and this allows air to enter the attic space from under the roof.
Soffit vents bring in fresh air while box vents remove hot air. The good thing about box vents is that they are low profile and don’t need any power to function. This makes them suitable and preferred by most homeowners. However, to appropriately vent an attic, you need multiple box vents.
Solar Powered Vents
Solar-powered vents are similar to power vents, with the only difference is that they use the sun as their power source. Although they seem great from an energy-saving perspective, they tend to turn off when the battery is charging.
That’s because the solar panel doesn’t hold a charge long enough to run the vent the entire day since the power is required to run the motor. This means while you’re recharging the battery, you may end up having to use your air conditioner, which eventually adds to your energy costs.
Things to Consider When Choosing Garage Roof Vents
Before buying a garage roof vent, there are several factors you need to consider. This is to ensure that you’re buying the right type of vent suitable for your roof. Check out these tips below to use during your purchase.
Shape and Features of Your Roof
The first thing you need to consider before buying any roof vent is the shape and features of your roof. This will help you determine the right vent for your home’s roof. A home with large soffits that go across the roof deserves a combination of ridge vents and soffit vents. But a house with a hip roof without soffits may need both hip vents, box vents, and drip edge vents. If your home has large gabbles, then it needs gable vents.
Environment
Where is your home situated, and what’s the type of weather in that area? This is where the question of the environment comes into play. While most vents are designed to handle heavy rains and snow, hurricanes cause havoc on roof vents. Luckily, soffit vents and also gabble vents offer an opportunity for rain to be blown up and inside your attic.
Turbine vents can benefit from high winds, although it may sometimes damage them if the wind is too much. This is why you need to consider your environment first to buy roof vents able to withstand conditions in that area.
Material
The third and most important factor to consider before buying roof vents is the material used to build them. Luckily, most vents are designed with durable galvanized vinyl or aluminum since they are made to endure bad weather. Still, you have to check the material used to create the type of vent that you want before buying it. This will also help you determine whether it will be ideal for your home roof or not.
Conclusion
When it comes to garage roof venting, it’s crucial to understand what you’re doing fully. This will safeguard you from making mistakes and ending up in losses. If you’re unable to do the work yourself, I highly recommend hiring a technician to help and advise you appropriately.
I hope this post has helped you learn something and gained the right insights about how you can vent your garage roof venting. If you have any questions, please reach out, and we’ll be happy to answer you.