Dirty areas around vents

[rdhutch]

The dirty areas around the soffit vents are visible around the entire sturcture. The vents are not clogged. The attic insulation near the vents is not discolored. This is a hip roof with ridge and soffit ventilation.

Is this a clue to another defect? Is there a corrective action other than normal cleaning and maintenance?

Click to Enlarge

33.06 KB

[Bill Kibbel]

Hipped roofs usually have such a short ridge that they don't have enough clear opening to function properly. Add a little positive pressure in the attic and the soffit vents turn into gozouta instead of gozinta vents.

[Garet]

Looks like an older home. My guess is the ridge venting is newer and the soffits haven't been painted since the ridge vents were installed (my 1973 home originally had only soffit vents). If so it could have been wind blowing in on one side of the house and out on the other. Read up on 'ghosting'.

[Jim Katen]

Hipped roofs usually have such a short ridge that they don't have enough clear opening to function properly. Add a little positive pressure in the attic and the soffit vents turn into gozouta instead of gozinta vents.

That happens all the time, even on newer houses with prescriptive venting. I suspect that the air in the attics has never looked at the diagrams, which show how it's supposed to move.

Attic venting is a chaotic system.

[Nolan Kienitz]

Hipped roofs usually have such a short ridge that they don't have enough clear opening to function properly. Add a little positive pressure in the attic and the soffit vents turn into gozouta instead of gozinta vents.

That happens all the time, even on newer houses with prescriptive venting. I suspect that the air in the attics has never looked at the diagrams, which show how it's supposed to move.

Attic venting is a chaotic system.

Damn that "air" for not reading up on how we expect it to flow ... []

[Jim Morrison]

Hipped roofs usually have such a short ridge that they don't have enough clear opening to function properly. Add a little positive pressure in the attic and the soffit vents turn into gozouta instead of gozinta vents.

That happens all the time, even on newer houses with prescriptive venting. I suspect that the air in the attics has never looked at the diagrams, which show how it's supposed to move.

Attic venting is a chaotic system.

I agree. I'd go on to say that it (proper attic venting) doesn't matter a whole hell of a lot, either.

[John Kogel]

Hipped roofs usually have such a short ridge that they don't have enough clear opening to function properly. Add a little positive pressure in the attic and the soffit vents turn into gozouta instead of gozinta vents.

That happens all the time, even on newer houses with prescriptive venting. I suspect that the air in the attics has never looked at the diagrams, which show how it's supposed to move.

Attic venting is a chaotic system.

I agree. I'd go on to say that it (proper attic venting) doesn't matter a whole hell of a lot, either.

Sorry, Jim M. It may not matter much in your area and it may not matter in many older drafty houses in my area, but in newer houses here it matters a lot.

Need examples? I've got the pics.

[Marc]

Sorry, Jim M. It may not matter much in your area and it may not matter in many older drafty houses in my area, but in newer houses here it matters a lot.

Need examples? I've got the pics.

I've got to agree with John K here. In my area, the attic is rarely within the insulation boundary of the house. Unless the attic space is huge, if there's no ventilation, it's more likely than not to have issues with longitudinal heat cracks in rafters as well as condensation issues on attic ductwork and ceiling stains/mold growth.

The specific method doesn't matter much but the air has got to exchange with outside air at least a little to avoid problems.

Marc

[Jim Baird]

That "ghosting" in the OP pic looks just like that I have seen around turtleback vents placed high in attics. Love the terminology gozouta vs gozinta.

[mlparham]

The dirty areas around the soffit vents are visible around the entire sturcture. The vents are not clogged. The attic insulation near the vents is not discolored. This is a hip roof with ridge and soffit ventilation.

Is this a clue to another defect? Is there a corrective action other than normal cleaning and maintenance?

Click to Enlarge

33.06 KB

A light pressure washing will make it go away.

[ghentjr]

Love the terminology gozouta vs gozinta.

I used that description to teach my kids basic math concepts when they were little. (35 years ago) I recently overheard my son using the concept with one of my grandkids. Glad he remembered.

What gozouta your business determines what gozinta your pocket.