What Ridge Vent Should I Install On My Roof?

A ridge vent is an air exhaust vent installed on the peak of a roof. When installing this vent, an air slot is first cut in the roof deck at the roof's peak. This air slot is then covered by the ridge vent itself. They help to provide continuous, uniform exhaust ventilation at the highest portion of the attic. As with all things, some are better then others. Listen in as Jason explains the importance of a high quality ridge vent and how metal isn't always better when it comes to roofing - particularly when it comes to ridge vents.

[@MikeM-bn2ij]

Great video thanks for the info. My roof was replaced 7 years ago and I couldn't get the attic temp below 130 in the summer and 40 degrees over ambient temperature in the winter. Last year I asked my roofer if he could replace the ridge vent with a model that has an external baffle also. He said he does use that type now also and did replace mine with it. Now my attic temp is ambient temperature until about noon never getting higher than 20 degrees over ambient and dropping quicker in the evening. Best thing I've done. I had opened my soffits and closed the gables when the new roof was done. Temps before the new roof were even higher.

[@Joseph710052]

Excellent information and superb presentation!! My hat is off to you Sir!👍👍👍 (I've been a state-licensed roofing contractor for over 50 years, so I've heard it all and seen it all. In my view, you're a tremendous asset to Planet Earth.)

[@eustisroofingcompany]

Thanks for taking the time to comment! We appreciate those in our field and our hats are off to you!

[@oldowl4290]

There is really no "sucking" occurring at the roof, there simply is airflow up and out due to heat rising and air expanding from the heat. The flow is controlled by the inlet (soffits) and outlet (ridge vents, box vents, or gable vents). I have gable vents that I'm ditching in favor of ridge vents. I've always thought gable vents combined with some box vents are worthless as rafters trap sections of air, create turbulence, and makes it difficult for the air to move smoothly. As a parcel of air is heated, it gets bigger. How much flow is determined by the total parcel of air, how hot or cold it is and the area / volume of the ridge vent and soffit vents to allow the air to escape. But the other factor is to allow it to escape evenly and not "piecemeal" the way gables and boxes to. They have to be in a balance for the best effectiveness. There's no mechanical action though, it's more of fluid control by how fast or slow you allow the air to flow like turning off or on a sink valve. Secondly, anyone trying to cool their attic, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend using 1" or 2" foil backed poly-iso foam panels set 1.5" off the ceiling drywall with edge spacers every 24" made of 2x4 scrap and spray foam seal the panels in place..this cut them 1/2" extra per side for foam locking. I recently did this in my house (I live in downtown Abq NM where we get 100F heat waves) and my temps (with laser thermometer) when OAT was 90F was...get this... 91F on the underside of the foil at 3pm (without ceiling drywall installed yet under the panels!) and 106F on old already set 1/2" drywall (mudded and painted) which had no insulation on top of it yet (no poly-foil, no batting, no blown insulation etc). These temps were taken just 3ft apart from one another on several 90F days with same results. It was a 15-16 degree difference each time. Just absolutely huge. I also plan to staple on reflective foil on the truss rafters on the south side as our house (rectangle shape) faces due east / west. I'm 1000% sold on controlling heat with radiant foil type barriers. In addition to this and installing ridge venting, I'm also fully replacing my soffits and trim and installing "venturi" type baffles I made DIY as I found our soffit vents were completely clogged with blown in fiberglass insulation which spilled over the exterior wall top plates right into the soffit channels. The new baffles, set at the top of the wall plate help to greatly contain and hold back the insulation, and leave a 1.5" tall x 22.5" wide x 16" long venturi channel to guide the soffit airflow up toward the roof. Rather than buying cheap foam or plastic baffles you staple in when the roof is off, I made mine out of 2x4 and plywood. 2x4 has a bevel ripped at the top 1.5" edge to match roof pitch angle and the plywood deck is glued and screwed on top. This may cost a little more than cheap foam baffles but is better long term and wood is also a good insulator. You could also use foil reflective OSB. I used liquid nails and 2" screws to secure them to the top plate and a single 1.25" screw out at the end of the plywood on each side to catch the arm weight of the plywood. Lastly, I spray foamed the side edges to seal in place. Just like with the poly-iso, I cut the plywood 3/8" less per side to leave room for foam sealing and this helps create the venturi effect. All of what I've stated has DRAMATICALLY helped the attic cooling and airflow. I also suggest using the lightest colored asphalt shingle you can live with. Ours are a light cement grey. My final point, is you have to attack all this from many ways, not just one. Copy / Paste / Save in Notepad! Cheers.

[@denoca3261]

What is Marlarkey's best ridge vent and what do you think about it (Portland, Oregon)?

[@SteveP-vm1uc]

Well, I am actually looking at different venting systems because we had a wind storm today that stripped off cap from two different sections of ridge vent like what you are showing here. There are probably several reasons why it failed, but I am not very impressed with it, to be very honest. I have 3 buildings. My house has the same as you like in this video and 2 other roofs that have the older style aluminum ridge vent that I have never had any issues with at all... Tomorrow I have to go up on the roof and really figure out what went wrong and fix it, but honestly, this is at least the third time fixing different areas of the same vent on my house roof. Wish i knew where you are in Florida as I'd love to have you check it out!! I am in Holiday, Pasco County.

[@eustisroofingcompany]

We are in central Florida , just north of Orlando, unfortunately you are a bit out of range for our services. We highly recommend using directorii.com and using that to find a contractor you can trust near you!

[@SteveP-vm1uc]

@@eustisroofingcompany Well, I climbed my handicapped ass up onto the roof with a bunch of my old roofing tools and repaired the vent and all the caps myself.. The company that did my roof back in 09', used 1 3/4" roofing nails to install the vents. I used 3" ring shank nails with $.25 sized shoulder washers on the vents and the same on the caps. I also Karnac'd each and every shingle. This is the 5th time I have had to repair caps on my roof and all that I have done has been perfect... Fact is, I should probably just go tear off the 2 lines of cap left that they did and do it right, but that will have to wait until my back eases up with the pain...

[@raphaelmanpower954]

Thank for all this info. I'm a bit confused though. Clearly the box for the Ridge Vent is CertainTeed (2:13), but just prior (2:02) you show a VenturiVent branded Ridge Vent that is produced by Air Vent, not CertainTeed. I've heard good things about both, but which one are you recommending? Thanks!

[@eustisroofingcompany]

They are both great and efficient air vents. Everything depends on the manufacturer warranty for shingles. If it's an upgraded warranty then most manufacturer require the components be their own brand to honor the warranties. Using the same brand avoids running into any of these issues.

[@11bangbang84]

Does certainteed make the air vent Venturi vent plus?

[@eustisroofingcompany]

They do not.

[@larrycrookshanks1646]

Well you really don't know what your talking about. The metal ridge vent with filtervent is actually the best vent for extracting heat out of the attic on shingled roofs. CertainTeed plastic vent works well also but it does not outperform the metal. If its installed properly with hex head neoprene washer screws it will never blow off. And if you screw the end plugs in with the same screws you won't see them get pulled out by varmints. There was a study done on all of the ridge vents back in 1995 by the University of Illinois and the metal vent outperformed all . I installed it on my house in 1983 and never had one problem. I just re-roofed it in 2018 and installed Air-Vent filtervent and I won't have any problems with it. The metal is not cheap. It just outperforms . 2nd Generation roofer with 52 years of on roof experience.

[@eustisroofingcompany]

Really appreciate the comment and a different view. If there's one thing that catches my attention, it's old-school roofers. They bring a ton of knowledge and experience that is needed in the industry. I disagree; it's not the best in 2023. Yes, it was the best in 1995, and I was installing them back then. There is much better technology that pulls the hot air out of the attic now, benefiting the homeowner and helping the roof last longer. Also, from experience, they handle storms better. While I agree that any component really depends on the install, you're correct that 90 percent of them are installed wrong, and that's why they fly off in storms. I have seen them fly off when they are screwed; over time, the screws deteriorate from exposure and water ponding around them, causing issues. However, an intelligent roofer can place the screws better and add better quality screws to fix this. So, in many ways, you are correct. I really look at what is the best product and what I have seen work the best from experience, but another aspect is what is the best product that takes out human error when installing, which is huge. I have seen squirrels chew out plugs that are screwed in. You stand a much better chance, but those squirrels are relentless sometimes. I disagree on the metal; although aluminum is amazing for roofs, it is almost as thin as a tin can. The new manufactured vents are much stronger. Another key issue is manufacturers want their vents on their products, and you can lose your warranty if you don't. Keep that in mind; I've also seen it happen. So there are many reasons I recommend, in my opinion, a better vent from experience. Absolutely love and respect, 2nd-generation roofer with 52 years of experience. Tons of respect and appreciation; very few experts out there like yourself. Thank you for stopping by and dropping off some of your knowledge and experience. Stay safe!

[@sereneaspirations7019]

👆 that was a great dialogue thanks so much! I work with a company that does roofs in Florida so this is perfect

[@barrettstyles1409]

Every time I go to a house that has the aluminum vent, there’s problems. You are very wrong sir. There’s still exposed fasteners regardless & they inevitably fail. Roofing in the 90’s is not the same as today.

[@larrycrookshanks1646]

@barrettstyles1409 Sorry buddy. I've been roofing since 68 and I've seen everything out there. If you install it right there will be no problems.