Cathedral Ceiling Attic Ventilation

Cathedral ceilings on the other hand traditionally feature straight sides that slope upward at the same angle as the exterior roof line.

Cathedral ceiling attic ventilation.

You ll want a tight ceiling air barrier with no air leakage into the cathedral ceiling a critical detail for all cathedral ceiling designs. This type of construction is also structurally sound and. The cathedral ceilings of the 1970s and 1980s were thermal disasters. Proper attic ventilation consists of a balance between air intake at your eaves soffits or fascias and air exhaust at or near your roof ridge.

Sometimes they included flimsy proper vents between the fiberglass and the roof sheathing but often they just specified thin batts to ensure that there would be an air space above the batts for ventilation. Bliss points out in the original q a on cathedral ceiling ventilation the risk of forming a vapor barrier sandwich around fiberglass ceiling insulation foil faced insulation above and poly vapor barrier below is that any moisture entering the insulation will be trapped risking future mold or rot problems. Proper ventilation is necessary in order to address water vapor that cannot be blocked to allow it to escape rather than allowing it to accumulate until it causes problems. Although there is no separate attic to vent air circulation is still necessary to.

Even with the attic bypasses sealed and effective vapor retarders installed proper ventilation is essential to prevent moisture problems in cathedral ceilings. If your cathedral ceiling ventilation ports space between the decking and the top surface of insulation resting on the ceiling drywall is visible from an accessible attic and there are no obstructions any type of properly installed attic vent will do as long as it provides adequate output. Federal housing authority recommends a minimum of at least 1 square foot of attic ventilation evenly split between intake and exhaust for every 300 square feet of attic floor space. When renovating an older home whose roof rafters are only 2x6 really 5 1 2 x 1 5 in dimension the available space for insulation and ventilation is limited therefore limiting the options for a combination of good under roof ventilation and high insulation r values in the cathedral ceiling.

Cth experts 154 posts 0 comments. A vaulted roof offers open living space directly below the rafters because there are no horizontal ceiling joists.