Poor roof ventilation in your home can negatively affect your health, your property's structural stability, and your bank account. These issues are not always obvious and can go unnoticed, especially as many people do not regularly enter their attic or roof space. This often means that inadequate roof ventilation is not addressed until it becomes a major problem.
In some cases, this can be as severe as a collapsing roof which can endanger the safety of you and other occupants, whilst also being extremely expensive to repair.
At Beddoes Products, our roofing experts have got together to help. Creating this guide to talk you through the most common roof ventilation problems; including actionable fixes and solutions to ensure your roof space is sufficiently ventilated.
Why is roof ventilation important?
Before we delve into what problems can be caused by poor roof ventilation, we need to know why roof ventilation is so important. As mentioned in the introduction, a roof with improper ventilation can impact your health, the stability of your property’s structure and your bank account.
This is because modern homes and lifestyles produce large amounts of heat. Everyday activities like heating the home, cooking, showers or baths, all produce hot air that rises and collects in your roof space.
This is where a little bit of science comes in. Heating air gives the molecules more energy, which makes them move about more, and creates space for more water vapour molecules to fill. As this hot air rises, it carries these water molecules into your roof space.
If a roof space is not properly ventilated the warm air collects and gets trapped. As the air begins to cool naturally, or through coming into contact with cold surfaces, there is no longer as much space between the air molecules for the water vapour molecules. This causes them to condense and return into water droplets.
Over time, these water droplets build up. First, this leads to mould and mildew that can affect air quality, and then rot or rust of your roofing materials - which can compromise the structure of your roof.
What are the most common problems with poor roof ventilation?
Now that you know the science behind what happens, we can explore the most common issues directly caused by poor ventilation in a roof space.
Decreased Air Quality
The build-up of moisture droplets from the condensing hot air creates areas of dampness on the structural materials in your roof space. Surrounded by stale air this becomes the perfect environment for mould and mildew. As mould and mildew grow they release spores into the air circulating throughout your home.
This lowers the quality of the air that you breathe, with large amounts of exposure causing many allergic symptoms. According to the NHS, these can include watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, itching, coughing, wheezing, difficulty breathing, headache, and fatigue.
Structural Instability & Deterioration of Roof Materials
If left untreated, the long-term build-up of moisture on the materials of your roof structure can lead to rotting or rusting. As you would expect, this causes damage and weakens the materials that form your roof. This damage can drastically shorten the lifespan of the materials and compromise the overall structure of your roof and home.
In severe cases, resulting in a collapsing roof that poses a risk to your, and anyone else who lives in the properties, health and safety. In addition, roof repairs and complete roof reconstructions come at a cost and can leave you with a large unexpected bill.
Poor Temperature Regulation & Increased Energy Costs
Another important aspect of ventilating a roof space is how it helps to regulate the temperature of your home. If hot stale air is sitting in your roof space with no circulation you will have less control over temperature regulation.
This is much more noticeable on hot days, as hot air continues to rise within your home but has nowhere to escape. This creates a sauna effect, filling your home with hot stale air and making it difficult and expensive to cool.
What solutions can you use to improve your roof ventilation?
Improving your roof ventilation can improve the quality of the air in your home, and your home's structural stability and also reduce your utility bills. Ensuring that fresh air circulates in your roof space and expels warm stale air helps to prevent moisture build-up and overheating. Below are the most common solutions for enhancing roof ventilation:
Installing Roof Vents
Roof vents come in a range of different styles and sizes depending on where in the roof they are designed to be installed. Depending on the size and shape of your roof space depend on which roof vents are most suitable to effectively vent your space.
Ridge Vents
Ridge vents are, as the name would suggest, installed along the ridge line and work passively to expel warm stale air from the roof space.
Soffit Vents
Soffit vents are installed under the eaves of the roof, and work by drawing in cold air to circulate and displace the hot air, allowing it to escape from the attic space.
Roof Vent Tiles
Roof Tile Vents are designed to replace a roof tile fitting in with the overall aesthetic of the roof design. They are installed on either side of a roof space and work through passively allowing cold air to flow into the roof space.
This cold air then circulates in the roof space and displaces the warm stale air that is carrying water vapour before it comes into contact with cold surfaces and the condensation process.
How to choose the right ventilation solution for your home?
Roof spaces in different homes vary drastically in shape and design, which means that there is no one-size-fits-all roof ventilation solution. The most efficient way to assess and improve your roof ventilation system is to contact a local roofing professional to complete a comprehensive roof inspection. Using their knowledge and experience they can quickly spot any issues caused by poor roof ventilation; before crafting a bespoke solution to create an effective airflow and properly ventilate your roof space.
Find out more about Roof Ventilation
At Beddoes Products, we are experts when it comes to roof vent tiles and effectively venting a roof space. If you are looking for more information, you can find out everything you need to know in our Full Roof Ventilation Guide.