# Soffit Vents for Wooden Soffit?



## clashley (Nov 24, 2009)

rollenrock33 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Does anyone know of anything other than the aluminum circle vents and the square vents that lowes sells to vent wooden soffit? I have a metal roof and was told that the rips in the metal would allow ample air flow into the attic with out putting in soffit vents. I am having trouble with ice damns and now some of the perlins are getting mold on them. I suspect that I do not have ample air flow. The roof has a continuous ridge vent. I am going to try and take some pics tonight and post them tommarow. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help!


You're gonna need soffit vents, If you have wooden soffits, you can use what they sell at Lowes, or you can opt to have perforated aluminum soffits installed.

The general rule of thumb is at least 1 sq ft of ventilation for every 300 sq ft of roof, equally divided between the ridge vent and the soffits. In high humidity areas, double the requirement. How long and wide is the ridge vent, and what size is your roof?

You need to make sure that the soffit vents are not obstructed by insulation so they can draw air freely.


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## Ed the Roofer (Jan 27, 2007)

A continuous strip vent, about 2" to 3" wide, depending on the manufacturer would provide you a source of continuous Intake Ventilation, but ensure that no interior insulation would be present in the overhang to inhibit the airflow.

Ed


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