NO vents!

I don’t understand why some roofers of old did not install ventilation into the roof. I was on a “Vancouver Special” roof today and it had NO exhaust vents for the ceiling space or attic space. It’s not as if the architect didn’t design the need for roof exhaust vents as soffit vents were detailed and supplied by the house builder. But, alas, NO current attic space vents. I knew this wasn’t the original roof of the house and I wondered if when it was built whether or not the first roofers put in any roof vents for the ceiling space. I imagine so. BUT clearly the most recent guys who did the reroof didn’t know about ventilation or chose not to install vents in effort to save money off the cost of the install. I also know the current owners don’t know about the condition of their roof because they have asked me to come and inspect it. The lack of exhaust vents has a couple negative effects. There are no “exit” vents to establish air flow in the ceiling space (attic space) from the soffit to the roof vent. The omission of these exhaust vents ultimately increases the probability of condensation and also unnecessarily heats up the interior living space during summer months. As the summertime day heats up, the warming air in the attic has nowhere to escape and thus transfers the rising temperature to the rooms below. Another negative effect is that the roof membrane or roofing materials are now situated and trapped between two warming components – the outside sun being one and the hot air inside the attic (or ceiling space)being the other. Essential the roofing material is getting baked from both sides. Not a good recipe for longevity. So I figure I’ll be putting some vents into this roof soon enough. I wish they had of called me earlier.