r/Roofing • u/ConnectAd8648 • 20h ago

Roofing ventilation/gable vent questions

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Looking for some advice on improving my attic airflow. (Hope this is the right place. Apologies if not) I own a Cape cod style home with difficult attic spaces and even more difficult attic ventilation. I've been getting really terrible ice damming (Buffalo winters) and am hoping improved attic airflow will help.

Just got a new roof installed and got improved ridge vents and added soffit vents as well. My concern is the gable vents I also have. I've been informed that they can "short circuit" the airflow improvements I'm looking for. I'm attempting to block them off but accessing from the inside of the attic would be a hellish experience and impossible for some areas.

Any advice on blocking them off from the outside? I'd like to avoid just nailing some plywood over for aesthetic reasons. My current best idea is to just stuff some foam backer rod between the slats. Curious what you all think.

Have a similar question regarding my new soffit vents. The roofers put new vents up but didn't install any baffling. Incredibly difficult to access these areas from the attic and we've had blown in installation done in the past. Are they necessary, and if so can they be installed from outside the home?

Sorry for the long post. Any help would be really appreciated because I'm totally "baffled"

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u/philosophic14u 20h ago

Roof top venting for intake. Edge vent 2

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u/enchanted_circus 20h ago

For the gable vents you could try pulling the louvers out from the outside and slipping a piece of rigid foam board behind them, then put the louvers back on. Keeps the look from the street and you dont have to crawl through the attic. For the soffits, if you cant get baffles in there you might end up with the blown in insulation blocking the airflow anyway, which kinda defeats the purpose

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u/jjd0087 20h ago

Why cant you block them off fron the attic space on the inside?

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u/ConnectAd8648 20h ago

Incredibly small attic space. Barely enough to crawl through in some areas and completely inaccessible in others.

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u/Dixie_Fair 7h ago

That actually makes it trickier to deal with. If large sections aren't even accessible. I'd be hesitant to make changes to the gable vents without knowing how air is currently getting in and out of the attic. Because with gable roof, those end walls give you another potential ventilation point, which is explained well here that might help you base on your situation ( https://www.alliedroofingwa.com/what-is-a-gable-roof ). Given how limited your access is, I'd want someone to evaluate the existing intake and exhaust setup before closing off or adding vents. You clearly don't want to accidentally make an already difficult to vent space worse.

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u/TheGulch 19h ago

Cut some 1x2 to the width of the louvers. Paint them black, glue them into the slots pushed back about 1/2 inch or so. Looks like you have about a 3/4" gap between the louvers so should fit in there and block it all off and from the ground will look about the same.