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Home/Service Areas/Louisiana/LaPlace/Roof Ventilation

Roof Ventilation in LaPlace, LA

Big Easy Roofing sorts out attic ventilation across LaPlace and the east bank of St. John the Baptist Parish. The first question is not how many vents, it is which kind of attic you have. A vented attic needs air in and air out. A properly detailed spray foamed roof deck is generally meant to have neither.

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$400 to $2,500Estimated correction
Vented or sealedThe first question
Intake decides itFor any vent without a motor
Written scopeBefore anything is cut in

LaPlace roof ventilation at a glance

There are two attic designs and they want opposite things. A vented attic needs air in at the eaves and out near the ridge, and is usually short of intake. An attic sealed with spray foam under the roof deck is designed to keep outside air out, so vents work against it.

Estimated correction

$400 to $2,500

Driven by how much intake has to be opened up, what exhaust is already there, the roof shape and access. Every figure here is an estimate, not a quote.

Find out which attic you have

Vented, or sealed with foam

Look at the underside of the roof deck from the attic. Bare timber usually means a vented attic. Foam sprayed against the deck usually means a sealed design, and that changes the whole conversation.

A sealed attic is not short of vents

It was not designed for them

Spray foam against the roof deck brings the attic inside the insulated part of the house. Cutting soffit or ridge vents into it lets outside air into a space meant to be sealed. Ask whoever installed the foam before anyone adds a vent.

A passive vent cannot exceed intake

A powered one is different

On a vented attic, a turbine or a ridge vent has no motor, so each can only move the air the soffits let in. A powered fan has enough suction to pull air from wherever it can find it, including the conditioned house below.

Blocked soffits are the usual find

On a vented attic

The most common fault on a vented attic is intake that is present on paper and blocked in practice, usually by insulation pushed into the eaves, by paint over the perforations, or by soffit that was never cut open behind the vent.

Foam can hide a slow leak

And the deck with it

With foam covering the underside of the deck, a slow roof leak can run for a while before it shows inside, and the deck cannot be seen from the attic. That makes the roof side of an inspection more important, not less.

Every figure on this page is an estimate, not a quote, and is subject to Big Easy Roofing sign off. Cost and timescale depend on size, pitch, access, weather, materials and whatever is found once work starts, so call Big Easy Roofing on (504) 800-8196 and we will come out and give you an estimate for your own roof.

Every figure on this page is an estimate, not a quote, and is subject to Big Easy Roofing sign off. Call Big Easy Roofing on (504) 800-8196 to have the ventilation on a LaPlace roof looked at properly.

What each vent actually does, and what it cannot do

On a vented attic, vents are not interchangeable and they are not cumulative. These are the ones on roofs around here, what each is good at, and the limit nobody mentions at the point of sale. The last row is the attic where they generally do not belong.

Vent typeWhat it does wellWhat it cannot doOnly works if
Soffit or eave intakeLets air into the attic, low down where it should enterNothing on its own, it is the supply sideIt is actually open behind the vent and not packed with insulation
Ridge ventExhausts along the highest line, evenly, with no moving partDraw more than the intake allowsThere is matching intake at the eaves, and no point vent shares its plane
Turbine or static ventExhausts simply, a turbine adding a small wind assistCreate intake, or work usefully on a starved atticIntake is adequate and it is not sharing a plane with a ridge vent
Powered attic fanMoves a lot of air, fastBe harmless on a starved attic, where it can pull conditioned air out of the houseIntake is genuinely adequate first, which is the part usually skipped
Any vent, on a foam sealed atticNothing it was designed forFit a design built to keep outside air outNever, unless whoever designed the foam says otherwise

Every figure on this page is an estimate rather than a quote. On a vented attic the pattern is that most rows are exhaust and only one is intake, and in our experience intake is what vented attics are most often short of, which is checked rather than assumed. On a sealed attic the right number of vents is usually none.

Vented or sealed, before anybody sells you a vent

An attic insulated with spray foam against the underside of the roof deck is built as a sealed attic, inside the insulated part of the house. The usual ventilation advice is written for vented attics, and applying it to a sealed one works against the design. Which one you have is the first question.

How to tell which you have

Look at the underside of the deck

From the attic, bare timber and insulation lying on the ceiling below usually mean a vented attic. Foam sprayed onto the underside of the roof deck and the rafters usually means a sealed design. Some houses have been changed from one to the other, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.

Why vents work against a sealed attic

Outside air in a sealed space

The point of foaming the roof deck is to keep the attic inside the insulated envelope. Soffit or ridge vents let humid outside air back into that space. The person who designed or installed the foam is the right source on how it is meant to work.

What foam changes for the roofer

The deck is out of sight

With foam on the underside, a slow roof leak can run for a while before it shows inside, and the deck cannot be inspected from the attic. So the roof side gets looked at more carefully, and a leak detection visit starts on top rather than underneath.

Where this fits the paperwork

Usually inside the reroof

Louisiana requires any municipality or parish that issues construction permits to permit and inspect roof construction and reroofing, at R.S. 37:3737(I), so vents changed during a reroof are normally part of that job, and the Permit Division can say how. A standalone vent change goes to the Permit Division on (985) 651-5565, weekdays 8am to 4:30pm.

On a vented attic, check the intake first

Go into the attic on a bright day and look for daylight at the soffits along the whole run, not just at one end. Blocked intake is far more common than broken exhaust, and it is why adding another turbine so often changes nothing.

A turbine that has stopped spinning still works like a static vent. What is worth checking after a storm is whether it is still physically there, and whether a ridge vent shares its plane with a point vent, which is the pairing that works against itself.

What we will not tell you

We will not quote a code section or a rule for sealed attics, and we will not tell you what a shingle warranty says about them, because we have not read those terms for your roof.

What we will do is identify which design you have, write down what we found, and refuse to cut vents into a sealed attic on the strength of general advice written for vented ones.

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Why this matters more on a LaPlace roof

LaPlace is hot and humid for most of the year. On a vented attic that cannot move air, the humidity sits against the underside of the roof. On a sealed attic opened up with vents, the same humid air gets let into a space designed to keep it out.

Humidity is the real load, not just heat

Warm moist air in an attic that cannot move air can condense on the underside of the sheathing when that surface cools below the air's dew point, typically overnight.

That is why ventilation problems show up as damp decking and rusted fixings rather than as a temperature complaint, and why they are so often mistaken for a roof leak.

A roof ages from below as well as above

Sustained heat and trapped moisture work on the deck and the underlayment from the inside while the sun works on the covering from the outside. The covering usually gets the blame.

Where the deck is already marked, that belongs on the record before any new covering goes over it, which is what a roof inspection is for.

It is cheapest to fix when the roof is open

Opening up intake at the eaves is straightforward while a reroof is in progress and fiddly as a standalone visit, so the sensible time to correct a vented attic is when other work is already scheduled.

Between times, keeping the soffits clear and the exhaust in place is ordinary maintenance, and it costs nothing to check.

Big Easy Roofing Process

Four steps, and the first one decides whether the rest apply at all, because a sealed attic and a vented attic need opposite things.

A roofer checking the underside of a roof deck from inside an attic
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01

01 Identify the attic design

Bare deck or foamed deck, vented or sealed. On a sealed attic we stop here and say so, rather than cut vents into it.

02

02 On a vented attic, check the intake

Along the full run of the eaves. Blocked, painted or uncut soffit is the most common finding and it changes everything downstream.

03

03 Record the exhaust and write the correction

Ridge, turbines, static vents and powered fans, which plane each serves, what changes and the figure, with any damp or marked decking named first.

04

04 Correct the intake side, then match the exhaust

In that order. Exhaust is sized to the air that can actually get in, and the finished arrangement is photographed for the record.

Everything else we do in LaPlace

The other Big Easy Roofing services we run in LaPlace, each with its own crew and written scope. Ventilation is usually corrected as part of a larger job rather than on its own, because the roof has to be open to do the intake side properly.

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LaPlace Roof Ventilation FAQs

Whether your attic is vented or sealed, why that decides everything else, and what a vented attic is usually short of.

Topic

Question not here?

Ask us about the ventilation on your LaPlace roof. No charge and no obligation.

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My attic has spray foam on the roof deck. Does it need vents

Usually not, because it was built as a sealed attic. Foam against the underside of the roof deck brings the attic inside the insulated part of the house, and cutting vents into it lets outside air into a space meant to be sealed. Ask whoever designed or installed the foam first.

How do I tell whether my attic is vented or sealed

Look at the underside of the roof deck from the attic. Bare timber with insulation lying on the ceiling below means a vented attic. Foam sprayed onto the deck and rafters usually means a sealed design. Some houses have been converted, so check rather than assume.

Does spray foam make a leak harder to find

It can. With foam covering the underside of the deck, a slow leak can run for a while before it shows inside, and the deck cannot be seen from the attic. That is why the roof side of an inspection matters more on a foamed attic.

Should I add a second turbine

Usually not. If the first one is not achieving much on a vented attic the usual reason is intake, though placement and obstructions are checked too, and a second turbine doubles the hardware without changing the air supply. Opening the intake side is the fix.

Can I have a ridge vent and a turbine together

On the same attic plane it is a bad idea. The turbine can end up drawing from the ridge vent a few feet away rather than from the eaves. Two turbines together, or two static vents, are ordinary.

Does changing vents need a permit in LaPlace

Where vents are changed as part of a reroof they are normally part of that job, and Louisiana requires any municipality or parish that issues construction permits to permit and inspect roof construction and reroofing, at R.S. 37:3737(I). For a standalone change, ask the Permit Division on (985) 651-5565.

What does fixing ventilation cost in LaPlace

Estimated at $400 to $2,500 on a vented attic, driven by how much intake has to be opened up, what exhaust is already fitted and the access. Every figure here is an estimate and a written price follows a look in the attic.

Find out which attic you have before buying another vent

A vented attic is usually short of intake, and a sealed attic sprayed with foam is built to have no vents at all. We check the underside of the deck first, then the soffits and the exhaust on a vented attic, and write a correction sized to the air that can actually get in. On a sealed attic we will tell you to leave it sealed. If you would rather start in writing, tell us what the job involves and we will come back with an estimate.

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Roof Ventilationin LaPlace