Roof ventilation & attic fans in Opelousas & Lafayette

Ensure your home stays comfortable and energy-efficient with our roof ventilation system installation. Proper ventilation helps regulate temperature and reduce moisture buildup in your attic, preventing issues like mold and extending the life of your roof.

In Louisiana heat an unvented attic cooks shingles from underneath. Balanced intake and exhaust is one of the most cost-effective ways to protect a new roof.

Good ventilation is a balance. Cool outside air comes in low, through vents in the soffits, and hot, damp air leaves high, through vents near the ridge. When either side is missing or blocked, the attic traps heat and moisture.

So we start in the attic. We check whether the soffit vents are open or buried under insulation, what kind of exhaust the roof has, whether different vent types are fighting each other, and whether there are signs of moisture such as stained decking or rusted nails. On the roof, we look at the condition of the existing vents. We take photos of what we find.

You get a detailed written estimate with transparent pricing and no hidden fees, explaining what we would add, change or remove and why. Then we install the vents or fan, seal every opening, and clean up before we leave.

• Attic inspection of intake, exhaust, insulation and moisture
• Roof inspection of existing vents and their flashing
• Photos and a written estimate
• Installation of vents, soffit intake or an attic fan
• Every new opening flashed and sealed
• Clean-up of the attic and work area

Poor ventilation hides in the attic, so most homeowners only notice the effects. These are the common ones:

Any one of these is worth a look. Several together usually mean the attic is not moving enough air.

• An attic that feels like an oven on a summer afternoon
• Upstairs rooms that stay hot even with the air conditioning running
• Cooling bills that keep rising
• Damp or matted insulation, or a musty smell in the attic
• Mildew or dark stains on the underside of the roof deck
• Rusted nail tips poking through the decking
• Shingles curling or blistering earlier than they should
• Peeling paint on the soffits and eaves

We install materials from GAF, CertainTeed and Owens Corning. The right mix of vents depends on the shape of your roof and attic.

A common guideline in residential building codes is about one square foot of net free vent area for every 150 square feet of attic floor, split between intake and exhaust. More is not always better, and mixing exhaust types, such as a ridge vent and a powered fan on the same roof, can pull air in through the wrong vents instead of through the soffits.

• Soffit vents: the intake, either continuous vented panels or individual vents
• Ridge vents: low-profile exhaust along the peak of the roof
• Box vents: fixed exhaust vents set near the top of the roof
• Turbine vents: spin in the wind to pull air out
• Powered attic fans: thermostat-controlled fans that push hot air out
• Solar attic fans: powered by a small panel, with no wiring to the house

Few places put an attic through more than south Louisiana. On a summer afternoon the space under the roof can get far hotter than the air outside, and that heat bakes the shingles from underneath and pushes into the rooms below.

Humidity is the other half of the problem. Damp air from showers, cooking and the outdoors collects in a poorly vented attic, where it can lead to mold, rot and wet insulation. Steady airflow carries it out.

Vents also have to survive the weather. Hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and afternoon storms drive rain sideways, so we choose vents built to resist wind-driven rain and fasten them securely. Pine needles and oak leaves can clog ridge vents and soffit openings over time, so keeping them clear is part of keeping the system working.