Commercial Roof Ventilation in Hammond, LA

Almost certainly not in the way the question is usually meant. A conventional low slope commercial roof is a compact assembly of deck, insulation and membrane with no ventilated cavity in it, so there is nothing for a vent to ventilate. If the insulation is wet, the useful question is where the water is arriving from.

Because nearly all of it is written about houses, and much of it was written for cold climates. The residential attic ventilation rule describes an attic, which is a ventilated cavity with intake at the eave and exhaust at the ridge; the residential roof ventilation page carries the sizing ratio. A flat commercial roof has none of those parts.

A large one. The Louisiana energy code places Tangipahoa Parish in a hot and humid climate zone, so for most of the year outside air holds more moisture than the conditioned air inside. The pressure to move water runs inward, which is the opposite of the assumption most ventilation guidance is built on.

It can. A vent is an opening, and an opening works in whichever direction the pressure runs. Where the drive is inward, an opening into a sealed assembly admits humid air rather than releasing it. Breather vents and one way edge vents also rarely move enough air to change much in either direction.

Find out where the water is coming from before buying anything. There are three usual sources: a breach in the membrane or a detail, air carrying moisture into the assembly through gaps, or moisture generated inside the building and never extracted. They have different fixes and only the first is a roofing repair.

That is a moisture survey and it is covered on the commercial roof inspections page. Finding the breach itself is a different job again and is covered on the commercial roof leak detection page. This page is about why adding vents is usually the wrong response to the answer.

When the building actually has a space above the ceiling. A pitched or metal building with a roof space can be ventilated properly with balanced intake and exhaust, and a warehouse or production building can need powered rooftop exhaust for heat and process moisture. Those are real jobs and we do them.

No. A powered roof exhaust fan needs an electrical connection, and that is a separate licensed trade with its own permit. We install and flash the unit and the curb, and the electrical scope is priced and carried out by an electrician.

It depends on the scope, so we confirm it with the office covering the address rather than assuming. Cutting a new opening into a roof is construction, and which office issues the permit depends on whether the building sits inside the Hammond city limits or in the unincorporated part of Tangipahoa Parish. The Hammond permit application also names a Historic District overlay among others, so on a street facing overlay address the review question is confirmed with the City rather than assumed. A Hammond postal address does not settle any of this.

They can, which is why every curb and flashing is detailed back to the roof manufacturer own published detail. A membrane warranty carries conditions about how the system is penetrated, so read yours before anybody cuts into the roof, and keep the detail drawings with it.