Allow me to vent a little...

This started as a test picture, but I like it.

I added some roof vents, among other projects, over the weekend. On my two roofs, which previously had no real ventilation, I installed three inlet Pop Vents and three exhausting Aura Vents. Supposedly the louvers on the Aura Vents create an "accelerated exhaust" which sucks out more air through the Venturi effect with no moving parts. I first looked at them when investigating flat roofs for a previous house I was thinking of purchasing. My roof isn't quite flat, but fairly close. I would guess that it is 2-12 or 3-12. 


My goal was to provide adequate, long lasting ventilation without needing power. I looked at solar powered vent fans, but decided they were far too expensive for my budget. Using the FHA 1/300 rule, I calculated that I needed around 1.5 Aura Vents and 1.5 Pop Vents for the upper roof and 0.5 Aura Vents and 0.5 Pop Vents for the lower roof. I doubted they would have much functionality if I cut them in half, so I ordered 3 of each (2/2 up and 1/1 down) from Home Depot's website. 


The installation was fairly straightforward, though the packages from Home Depot weren't very helpful. I knew they were manufactured by Active Ventilation Products, so I used the instructions on their website. In summary:


1: Cut the holes. I started with a 3/8" drilled hole, marked a circle with a template I made and followed that with a reciprocating saw. The upper roof was a little bit of a gamble. The roof joists ran in such a way, since I can't get in the attic, that I couldn't measure their location. I knocked around and listened for hollow spots to guesstimate their location and cut. I shaved about 1/16" off of two of them. 

My roof has a pretty good view of the downtown skyline.

2: Lay a base layer of roofing cement 

Note: If you work like me, the trowel will probably be so caked that you'll want to toss it afterwards. I found  my pointing trowel good for scraping the sides of the can, but not so great for this job otherwise (and also ruined).

3: Position vent and fasten with nails or screws

4: Seal with roofing cement: After placing an initial layer of cement over the vent flashing, I added asphalt glass fabric mesh to make a better long-term seal over the screws and edges before putting on the rest of the cement. For 6 14" vents, I scraped the bottom of two gallon cans of roofing cement

It's a little ugly, but I think it will stay sealed. I'll check on it regularly to make sure, unless you can see  that I obviously have bad craftsmanship.

Everything took about 6-8 hours over two days. The first day had a record-breaking high temperature in the 90s, so I didn't get much done until later in the day. The second day topped out around 80, which was about perfect for what I was doing. Now I don't have to worry about my attic getting too moist or too hot just because it's unvented. I hope that the squirrels don't come back next year.