Definition of a vented soffit?

[ridgepatrol]

On my garage it has perforated soffits. I had the garage spray foamed so that the roof deck is sealed to the top plate on the wall.

So there is no way that any air or moisture can travel from below the eaves into any attic space, since there is no attic space.

So my question is when considering clearances from a heating appliance vent to a soffit should I be looking at vented or nonvented soffits?

I am thinking that my soffits are nonvented.

Thanks,
Matt.

 

[The Cobbler]

vented soffits are to create air flow into attic spaces for ventilation. since you have a sealed roof-line, you don't need ventilation, thus no need for vented soffits

 

[wrenchguy]

Around here soffits are inside the building and eaves/roof overhangs are outside the building. I don't understand what your asking.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

We found at the lake that sealing off the soffit and venting out of one end wall was far from ideal. When we first opened the cabin there was always a mouldy mildew smell. Once the cabin was occupied it was no problem. I don’t know what the original carpenter was thinking. Air should circulate as Cobbler mentioned.
I simply pulled the existing plywood and drilled 5” holes every foot and a half and sealed with a 1/8” mesh. Now no problems.
New code here anyway calls solid soffit and multiple roof vents or maybe a vented upper roof ridge would work.
Here is a pic, I always understood the soffit was under the eave on the outside of a building.

 

[jbwilkins]

Technically you still have a vented soffit....Yes you have 'sealed' the soffit with spray foam so the likelihood for it to make it to the living space is small, but you will still have exhaust/moisture getting to the underside of the decking in the overhang.......

 

[yeldogt]

your soffits are unvented if they fully foamed the previous open channel and the roof deck

 

[yeldogt]

We found at the lake that sealing off the soffit and venting out of one end wall was far from ideal. When we first opened the cabin there was always a mouldy mildew smell. Once the cabin was occupied it was no problem. I don’t know what the original carpenter was thinking. Air should circulate as Cobbler mentioned.
I simply pulled the existing plywood and drilled 5” holes every foot and a half and sealed with a 1/8” mesh. Now no problems.
New code here anyway calls solid soffit and multiple roof vents or maybe a vented upper roof ridge would work.
Here is a pic, I always understood the soffit was under the eave on the outside of a building.

Must venting does not really work in most building -- in fact venting can work in reverse when wind is blowing -- driving attic air into the building. It's sound like what you has was typical .... in many buildings the early heat of the day can drive moisture from the ground/ grass along a building exterior and right into the attic -- where it's often cooler.

Power venting almost always creates negative pressure -- bad for a building. Same with better static venting ..

In most climates venting is a negative

 

[Jackfre]

What type appliance are you looking to install. Direct Vent or power vented. There is a difference and yeltdog is correct on power venting. Oil or gas? What does the manuf say about clearances. How large is the overhang of the soffit?

 

[iced98lx]

You're asking about venting something to a soffit, and the venting kit is asking if your soffit is vented or unvented, if I am understanding correctly.

For the purposes of the question you can say yours is unvented but a word of caution: running a vent pipe to your soffit to vent a bathroom etc will be difficult at best with the spray foam, and you are unlikely to re-seal around the pipe+spray foam contact points.

If I read the question correctly and you are trying to vent something to a vent in your soffit I suggest you don't, and look at other options as that would require you cutting a hole in the spray foam.

If I've misunderstood the question, I apologize.

 

[kaffine]

If the soffit above where the vent is has holes in it I would say it is vented. It is going to allow moisture to the underside of the roof deck above the soffit. If the soffit above where the vent is is solid then I would go with unvented.

How much of a difference is there between vented and non-vented soffit?