Install Soffit Vents | How To

Installing Soffit Vents | How To
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[@bernieyedinak1727]

Always wear safety glasses when you're drilling overhead

[@chuckhall5347]

I would have used the 6 inch vents on that project to get more air flow. I did soffit venting on a 1976 house last year where it had vinyl siding installed over the plywood soffit and no venting. I used three 2 inch vents per foot. I had to drill through the vinyl then up through the plywood as well. 316 holes later I was done. I had already added baffles from inside the attic and topped up the existing insulation with cellulose.

[@SometimeAgo65]

😂😂😂❤

[@avisitorhere]

There's some math to this that you guys skip over. I would suggest that viewers continue to research balanced attic ventilation more on sites from the manufacturers of roofing and insulation products. These button intake vents only pull in a very small amount of air.

[@boots7859]

Absolutely correct. Figure out how much net free air exhaust you have with your ridge vent or static vents, and insure you have at least the same amount of net free air intake, preferable a bit more.

[@jesseskellington9427]

I'm curious what size vent hole do I need 1in, 2 in, or 3 in. There's a huge price difference between hole sizes. If I need a 3-in hole can I go with two 2 in instead of one 3-in hole?

[@avisitorhere]

@@jesseskellington9427 Each vent will allow an amount of air to flow thru it, this is registered as CFM's or cubic feet per minute. You need a hole or series of holes that allow a similar CFM to pass thru it. Roofing and Vent sites usually have a calculator for figuring out how many CFM's are need for your roof size. Its also important to balance the intake and the exit for the air. They should be in balance because the exit is pulling air thru the system. Go to a good building supply store, not a big box for good information. They specialize in these things

[@whiskeytango69420]

Any ventilation is better than nothing

[@riffdex]

My house doesn’t have fascia end board or soffits. It’s just rafters with bird block in between. I was wondering if I can add vents onto the bird blocks in between each rafter and it will function the same as the soffit vents? I want to do this because I want to remove my gable vents so I can insulate and drywall the attic. But I still want to make sure it’s vented. Yes, I will add baffles and there is already a ridge vent in place.

[@wwhomeshow]

I don't see any reason you can't do this. As many people on here have pointed out, you'll want to make sure there is enough calculated airflow. There are websites available that help with that.

[@kenklassen9577]

Perfect... totally PRO...!...thanks

[@kellythomson1832]

Actually lol when big dude had vent covers as glasses.

[@MrCLOS619]

awesome!..thanks guys

[@wwhomeshow]

Glad you liked it!

[@collef1136]

Awesome thanks guys! What about protecting the bottom of the floor (between the joist and plywood underside of the shed) do you use a vapour barrier to protect from condensation? Thanks👍

[@wwhomeshow]

Under the shed I put down 6 mil. black plastic with a layer of gravel. Also, the carpet flooring we used was intended to go over top of concrete so it has a thick rubber backing.

[@SometimeAgo65]

If I install ventilation in sofits, will it allow some air to flow up through the attic? The reason I say Some Air is because several yaars ago, my husband installed a home camera system & he could barely get the cable through a tiny crack to be able to mount cameras under the soffit. This house was built in 1962 and there just doesnt seem to be any cracks in that area but I guess a small amount of air flow is better than nothing. I poked my head in there to see how hot and the attic crawl space feels like 200 degrees today!! 😳🥵 We need VENTILATION VENTS ASAP. Is an Eave and a soffit the same thing? LOL

[@wwhomeshow]

Hey there! Yes, eve and soffit would be the same thing. Installing these vents might help a little but you may need to install a lot of them. But you you'll also need to make sure you have adequate venting at your ridge. It might be worth talking to a roofing company about installing roof deck venting. I did this on my 1970's home because I just couldn't get enough venting with traditional vents. www.lomanco.com/vents/specialty-vents/deckair-vent/

[@SometimeAgo65]

@wwhomeshow I will definitely check that out. Honestly, I didnt even realize that we needed them. I can see why now though. Thanks! 😊

[@robsawyer2081]

Would these work on a house? Maybe with a larger diameter vent?

[@kauseway]

This is a very small amount of ventilation. How many do you need? 600?

[@ballerina6179]

I’m currently procrastinating doing this. I have the hole saw blades and the vents. I got 2” round vents that have little circular holes instead of the slat venting. I’m venting a shed roof of a 3 season room that I’m adding to the heated envelope of the house. There is a motorized turtleback fan up higher on the shed roof as the exit vent. The room is 10x16 as is the attic space above it. Is one 2” vent for each bay enough inlet?

[@wwhomeshow]

I think it would depend on the size of the room and the CFM's of the fan. There are calculators online that will help with the amount of venting required. If you have a motorized fan drawing air out of the room, that air has to be replaced. If you don't have enough fresh air inlets you might hear some whistling coming from that vent.

[@ballerina6179]

@@wwhomeshow Thanks for your reply. Yes I just learned the CFMs of the fan and it is an ERV6 with 1500cfm. It’s a quite powerful fan for the attic space above my 160sqft 3 season room. I am going to overcompensate with a vent in every bay and since the fan is on a thermostat it won’t run all the time.

[@intj57]

When you install, why do you face the vents toward the building?

[@wwhomeshow]

This is per the manufacturers specs. It's to keep wind from blowing directly into the vent.

[@SuperSaiyanBrock]

my pest control has quoted me $2700 to remove a few bird nests from these soffit vent holes as well as install dual-reinforced soffit vent covers for all the soffit vents on the bottom level floor. Is that a ripoff? I feel like I can do it myself for like $2500 cheaper

[@wwhomeshow]

That sounds a bit high to me but I'm not sure what the scope of work is. I would probably just buy a roll of wire mesh screen or even these screens from Amazon and do it myself! www.amazon.com/Guards-Inserts-Nesting-Bathroom-Exhaust/dp/B07MJP95MS/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=bird+screen&qid=1628103824&sr=8-5

[@Elizaflower]

OK so I am getting all gnarled up trying to calculate how many am I supposed to install. It's supposed to be 1sq ft of attic/roof ventilation per 300 sq ft of enclosed attic space, equally divided between up and down. The house currently has *no* ventilation from below so I have to add it in the soffits. MY attic space is 750 sq ft. So that should be 2.5 sq ft total ventilation required, or 360 sq inches. Using the "half up half down" rule, I'll need to provide 180 sq inches of ventilation to the soffit. Cool. OK now here is the hard part. Say I am using a 3 inch diameter round vent. Should be the area is around 7 square inches per vent, which would be 25 vents per side of my house, or almost one vent per foot for 3 inch vents! Like, huh? Wouldn't that be too many vents? To make matters worse, each vent product has a "NFA" or net free area rating, which for a 3 inch vent from Lowe's is only 1.34 inches. This would mean I'd need 67 vents on each side spaced so closely there'd be only like 1 inch available on each side of the vents before you have to put the next vent. This doesn't even make any sense since that would literally be a ton of little circles lined up nearly touching each other. So... where am I going wrong?

[@chuckhall5347]

I think you did the math right. If I had a plywood soffit like these guys I would have used much larger rectangular vents. On my house where the soffit is made of vinyl slats that are about 3" wide with nothing above them, I will have to use about 300 2" vents to go around my hip roof if I can't find a better solution. If I can find small rectangular vents, like 2" x 8" to install into the vinyl I will do that instead. About 1/3 of the vinyl slats have small holes drilled in them but not nearly enough NFA. The space above the roof is an oven in the summer and the upper rooms are warm as a result.

[@frstcontact]

Ok I got brown streaking coming down my siding in the front of my house. The previous owners added on to the house in the mid 2000 and the back of the house is fault. They never put any extra venting in the front of the house soffits. If I do this will I have to go into my attic and install the troughs for the vents beingthe at it is insulated with 50's insulation ?

[@wwhomeshow]

Hey Greg, its more than likely that you may have to install insulation baffles especially if it's a type of blown in cellulose or rockwool popular in that era. It's not terribly difficult though! You could always worry about it later if you choose to add insulation to your attic which is also a good idea.

[@JohnSmith-hu4rd]

You need intake on low part of roof at soffit and exhaust at highest point of roof. Exhaust only at the highest point of soffit does not accomplish proper venting.

[@wwhomeshow]

You are correct. We didn't show this in the video but we put vent screens along the back of the shed on the low side.

[@marktolston445]

Where do you purchase those vents?

[@wwhomeshow]

If you live in the Pacific Northwest you can pick them up at Parr Lumber. Otherwise you can pick them up on Amazon! Just search for Round Mini Screen Vents.

[@ybtalley]

Dudes this was the answer I was looking for. Did you guys take into account nfa for each rafter bay? Also did you install baffles in the rafter bays as well?

[@wwhomeshow]

We installed one in each rafter bay. What you don't see in the video is that we installed the same vents in the soffit on the back side of the shed as well allowing air to flow through. We did install baffles between the roof deck and the insulation too!

[@squamnh]

@@wwhomeshow ridge vent too? or is that unnecessary?

[@wwhomeshow]

@@squamnh Hi Chris, any time you are venting an enclosed space you want the air to move and not be stagnant. On a gable roof you would want vents in the soffit and ridge. Air gets drawn in through the soffit as the roof heats up causing a natural flow of air. The shed we installed these vents on has a slanted shed style roof. We installed them on the low side of the roof which is in the back and also in the front. There are architectural calculations that will tell you exact square footages of vents that is needed to vent an area. I can't help you there....

[@YajairaUnicorn]

Live in HOT AZ , phnx area. Would u reccomend adding these too in this type of climate

[@wwhomeshow]

I'm not terribly familiar with the building practices in Arizona since I've only been there a few times. But I would say that adding ventilation to any enclosed area is a good idea as long as the vents aren't exposed. You'll want to create a situation where air flows in and gets out for proper ventilation. This is a pretty good video I found explaining how that works! kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3azq6yortOIbLM Of course you wouldn't have to worry about ice dams.

[@georgeswca]

Can you install these on aluminum soffit as well?

[@wwhomeshow]

I don't see why not! You might have to dab a little clear silicone on the rim to make sure it stays put.

[@haroldyoungon5914]

No safety glasses?

[@frank295]

Anyone can add that. How about I'd the house does not have where to add those vent

[@wwhomeshow]

If you don't have enclosed soffits, I would recommend using a mid-roof vent. They're installed on your roof deck just past the exterior wall line. I actually had these installed on my home when I got it re-roofed a few years ago, in lieu of drilling a bunch of holes in my rafter blocking. Although, these are hard to retro-fit without getting a new roof. www.certainteed.com/residential-roofing/products/certainteed-intake-vent/

[@rrtii]

How is the roof exhausting the air - ridgevent?

[@wwhomeshow]

This is a shed style roof. We added soffit vents to the back of the shed too. Air will enter in the low side and vent out the high side.

[@bobbydaywilson5927]

Please explain "back side". My shed is 14x30 with five vents on one side , low, and four vents in the doors, middle. Also has a ridge vent. Thought was that air would enter the low vents and the door vents and exhaust through ridge vent. Not working so well. Should I add the soffit vents. Of course there isn't an attic space . Thanks

[@wwhomeshow]

@@bobbydaywilson5927 This shed is a slanted "shed roof" style. What you see in the video is us installing them on the "high side" of the shed roof. The back side is the low side of the roof. So the air would be drawn in on the lower back side and exhaust on the front side. If you have a gable style roof then you'd want to install a way to vent out of the ridge.

[@bobbydaywilson5927]

Thanks for the reply. My shed has a gable roof with a ridge vent , obviously no attic. Eight feet to the eve and ten feet to the ridge. My goal is to create air flow from the floor up through the ridge vent. I think soffit vents would possibly be like putting a hole in a straw and therefore you wouldn't get air flow from the floor. Worth a try - thanks again.

[@darinnorris3638]

Where do you buy them

[@wwhomeshow]

Hey Darin, we sell these at Parr Lumber company if you live in the Pacific Northwest. Otherwise you can get them on Amazon!

[@jay_8th_gen_accord717]

Where can i get these

[@wwhomeshow]

If you live in the Pacific Northwest you can pick them up at Parr Lumber. Otherwise you can pick them up on Amazon! Just search for Round Mini Screen Vents.

[@db2integra608]

Put on safety glasses!!!!!

[@wwhomeshow]

You're right. Sometimes we forget, but it's no excuse.

[@LukeTeel]

2:30, becaaauusseeee.???????

[@wwhomeshow]

Wind driven rain.

[@charlenescott1726]

@@wwhomeshow Thanks, I was wondering the same thing.

[@Iamnotabot_22]

𝐼𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑠 #𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔

[@Iamnotabot_22]

𝑀𝑒 𝑡𝑜

[@nedergubis2638]

Too small.

[@karlgerber7652]

Too many holes. I saw metal in there. Are you ducting or just venting right into plywood? Soffit? Na, not a good video to promote work that doesn't make sense.

[@wwhomeshow]

Hey, we're not sure what you mean. We are using these to vent shed roof. We didn't do a good job of showing our air inlets on the back side but it's more about the general installation than the science of ventilation. We figured we would ventilate each ceiling joist bay since they are entirely enclosed top and bottom.