Products at Peak Performance Contracting

If you have done any research on roof ventilation you probably ended up finding that everybody out there has their own opinion on what should and shouldn't be done. You ended up with more questions than answers. Peak Performances' opinion is that the only opinion that should matter is the one coming for the people who produce and warranty the product. If something does happen and you have followed the opinion of someone else you will be on your own. The Manufacturers will just walk away saying their instructions were not followed.

Peak Performance is a BP gold certified. We follow their standards. This ensures that if there are any issues with the roof the manufacturers are responsible for what happens. Don't trust just anyone's opinion on what to do because if they are wrong it won't be them paying for it, it will be you. Trust a certified professional, trust Peak Performance.

The most common mistake roofing contractors make is to not install enough vents because they are just guessing how many are supposed to be installed. Most contractors use the rule of the thumb that one common sized vent (50's) ventilates 300 sq feet.  Let's take a 1200 sq ft home, based on this rule of thumb most contractors would use 4 vents to ventilate the house when the true answer is 6.

 What Attic Ventilation Does

Good ventilation creates a cooler attic in the summer and a drier attic in the winter. Summer sunshine can cause an enormous buildup of heat in the attic. In a home with poor attic ventilation, the heat in the attic may eventually reach 140°F on a 90° day. If the unventilated attic is heavily insulated, the heat will stay in the attic much of the night, perhaps slowly migrating into the home's interior. This excessive heat buildup can also damage the roof decking and affect the shingles.

In the winter, moist warm air moves from the lower portions of the home into the attic. In the cold attic, the warm moist air condenses on the cold surfaces of the rafters, the nails, and the attic side of the roof deck. This water can create several problems. First, the condensation can swell the roof deck and shingles.

Second, the water can rot the roof deck, destroying its ability to carry loads and hold nails. Third, severe condensation can drip onto the insulation, reducing its effectiveness and possibly seeping through to the ceiling below. Another winter problem caused by poor attic ventilation is the formation of ice dams. Ice dams develop when warm air finds its way into the attic from the living quarters of the home and becomes trapped along the underside of the roof deck. The warmed deck then melts the snow above it and the water runs down the slope toward the eaves. As the water trickles past the lower and unheated sections of the roof near the eaves, it freezes. The wall of ice continues to build, forming an ever-larger dam. The pond of water blocked by the dam can get deeper and deeper until it backs up under the shingles, causing leaks and perhaps damage to the shingles and the deck. When the water gets below the deck, it can leak through the ceiling to cause all kinds of unsightly damage and structural weakening to the house.de to

Good ventilation will move the hot air out of the attic in the summer and dilute and remove the moist air during the winter before it can cause damage. Also, proper ventilation helps keep a more uniform temperature on the underside of the deck in the winter, and that will eliminate one of the common causes of ice dams.