How to ventilate an attic with no open soffits?
Older houses often lack open soffits and inlet air, leaving attics with outlet vents but no way for fresh air to enter. This traps heat and humidity, causes the second story to run nonstop, and leads to ice damming during winter.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Installing gable vents
- 2Cutting into the ridgeline for a ridge vent
- 3Applying spray foam insulation
- 4venting bathroom fans out the soffit
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“The second story runs non stop to keep up with hot summers or cold winters. It’s also fairly humid most days.”source ↗
“There are a few outlet vents but as far as I can tell no inlet air whatsoever. There are no soffits that are open”source ↗
“I just wish it had soffits that were open. It’d make everything so much simpler lol”source ↗
“Trying to improve exhaust to reduce ice damming.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 8How to find a contractor who actually does attic ventilation calculations
- 2How to add a vent when you can't reach the stack
- 3How to vent a plumbing system or attic without cutting into a roof
- 11Are powered attic roof vents actually worth it?
- 3Why is my attic apartment so hot in summer and cold in winter?
- 2How do I connect a flanged boot to rectangular duct?