4 Common Problems Caused by Poor Attic Ventilation

You may be tempted to invest your hard-earned cash into visible upgrades, like brand-new windows or shiny exterior paint. However, the hidden improvements, like attic ventilation, often make the most significant difference in the life of your roof and your home's long-term performance.

Discover why adequate attic ventilation is crucial for homeowners in Dayton and tips for improving your attic ventilation with an experienced roofing contractor.

How Does Proper Attic Ventilation Work—and Why Is It Important for Dayton Homeowners?

Attic ventilation brings fresh outdoor air into your attic and expels old air from the home. Adequate ventilation includes intake vents along your soffits to collect cooler outdoor air and exhaust vents along your roof's ridge to remove warm air from inside your home as it rises to the top of your attic.

Proper ventilation is vital for all homes, but it's especially important for regions of the United States that experience a continental climate, like Dayton, Ohio. These climates are known for their drastic seasonal changes, including warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. Ensuring your attic ventilation works well is crucial to prevent your home from being stuffy, inhibiting mold growth, and a host of other issues.

Frustrating Problems Caused by Poor Attic Ventilation

Comfort isn’t the only thing you’ll sacrifice if your home has inadequate ventilation. Poor ventilation can also impact, and even damage, your roofing system and home in these ways:

1. High Energy Bills

If you notice a spike in your utility bills, it could be for many reasons—from drafty windows to changing seasonal temperatures. However, most commonly, it has to do with your home's insulation and ventilation.

When your home isn't adequately ventilated, it's common for warm air to become trapped since it doesn't have an effective escape route. When this happens, the hot air may travel downstairs, causing your home to become uncomfortably warm. Then, your air conditioning unit is forced to work overtime to combat the rising temperatures, which increases your energy costs.

2. Peeling Paint

When you climb up in your attic, do you notice peeling paint on the walls or ceilings? If so, this may be due to a buildup of condensation in your attic, usually due to poor ventilation.

Rooms that produce more steam, like your kitchen or bathrooms, require extra ventilation. If you notice peeling paint or, worse, damp walls in these rooms, contact an experienced contractor to evaluate if you need more vents.

3. Deteriorating Shingles

Your roofing system can suffer significant damage from improper attic ventilation, and the repair costs are usually steep. If your home is covered with asphalt roofing shingles, you may notice the roofing shingles curling, cupping, buckling, or blistering. Typically, this damage occurs when your roofing system is experiencing too much heat, and often, the heat source is the warm air trapped in your attic.

When your roofing shingles deteriorate, they make your home susceptible to moisture penetration, which can cause severe issues, like rotting, mold growth, and structural damage. As you can see, installing proper attic ventilation is imperative to extend the lifespan of your entire roofing system.

4. Ice Dams

You may be surprised to learn that the icicles that frequent your home each winter aren't just a byproduct of living in a snowy climate—they are actually a sign of poor attic ventilation.

In the winter, your intake vents are responsible for keeping your attic as cool as the weather outside. When your attic isn't well-ventilated, it gets warmer than the outdoor temperatures, which causes the snow on your roofing system to melt. When the melted snow begins to slide down your roof (away from your attic), it refreezes at the edges of your roof, creating an ice dam. Throughout the winter, this process continues until the warm water can't flow any further down your roofing system and becomes trapped above your attic.  

Nothing good can ever come from standing water on your roof. Usually, the moisture soaks beneath your shingles and then leaks into your attic, causing water damage that's costly to fix.

You shouldn't suffer from ice dams if your home is adequately ventilated. If you're dealing with this problem each winter, you should contact a professional contractor to install more ventilation before the damage worsens.  

What You Should Do to Improve Your Attic Ventilation

If you’re suffering from poor attic ventilation, don’t worry! American Way Exteriors can help you protect your attic and roof in Dayton with the following steps:

1. Roof Inspection. First, it’s important to hire a professional contractor to evaluate what’s not working with your current ventilation and if there’s any damage to your roofing system that needs to be fixed.
2. Insulation Evaluation. Regardless of how ventilated your home is, you'll still suffer from stuffy indoor temperatures and high energy bills if it's not well insulated. Adding some insulation may be a helpful step in improving your home's energy efficiency.
3. Exhaust Vents. Ridge vents, box vents, wind turbines, and powered attic vents can all be installed to expel hot air from your home. Talk to your contractor about which exhaust vents work best for your home’s style and needs.
4. Intake Vents. Intake vents keep fresh air flowing through your attic, so they’re just as important as exhaust vents. They’re often found under your soffits or drip edges and can be critical in eliminating ice dams.

Keep Your Ohio Home Well-Ventilated with American Way Exteriors

If you suspect your home needs more ventilation, contact our experienced team in Dayton, Ohio. American Way Exteriors is a professional, reliable contractor that can help restore your professional or commercial roof to a beautiful, durable state you can be confident in.

Learn more about our expert roofing services, and when you’re ready, contact us to schedule an appointment to discuss your home’s ventilation.