Soffit vents are blocked by sheathing, easy solution?

[v7guy]

I was installing the last of the soffit air channel on the underside roof sheathing before I insulated and I noticed that the perforated soffit siding that we had installed is sitting over plywood and the soffit is doing nothing. Is there any easy solution to this or do I need to pull down the siding over the soffit and cut holes with the jigsaw?

I have no idea how this was fastened our how I would refasten it.

I've put in a ton of work to ensure good air circulation and the blocked off soffit defeats all the work I've done. I'm irritated.

 

[Ocho]

Can you post a picture? How many vents are we talking about here? If it's just one or two it might not be worth fooling with. If it's the whole side of the house, that's different.

 

[OccupantRJ]

As far as cutting holes go, a 6 inch hole saw will do the trick, using 2 holes per rafter cavity. The soffit will have to be removed to do this. Another alternative is a round snap-in vent that can be installed in holes that have been hole sawed through the soffit and sheathing.

Hope this helps.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5916964_install-round-soffit-vents.html

 

[79firebird]

OccupantRJ is right 6 inch hole saw works the best had to do that to my old place

 

[v7guy]

been pretty ill this last week, sorry for the late response.

This is on the garage.
It appears that both sides are blocked off completely, I can only feel that there is plywood there, I can't actually see it from the inside.

So just pull down the vinyl soffit and drill a couple 6" holes in between each rafter and then reinstall soffit? Any other tips available? It's my first time messing with siding... looks easy enough, but it don't often turn out to be easy enough. lol

 

[IONH]

I wonder how many 6" hole saws you will go through caused by the number of holes you will need to make.

I also had my soffits fully blocked off my the PO of my house, go figure. Also had no gable or ridge vent. When I changed the roof last fall, I pulled out the soffits blocking board entirely as well as the fascia board and replaced the fascia only. It is amazingly cool up there now.

Upon inspection, I have now realized my house likely has the same blocked soffits judging by no light coming up into the attic. Thankfully, the house does have both gable and ridge vents. Not to thread hijack (sorry v7guy), but is both two gable and a ridge vent enough?

 

[babzog]

The soffit is easy to remove... just did that to install two motion detecting spotlights under the eves of the shop. Remove the visible nails/screws holding the lower edge of the facia and then carefully pry it back soas to allow access to the front edge of the soffit. The soffit pieces are probably also nailed/screwed in place so once you peel back the fascia, you can then carefully remove those fasteners. Then, slip the soffit pieces out.

If you can't easily remove the ply as mentioned above, I'd set a skillsaw to the depth of the plywood, snap two chalk lines about 2-3" apart, the full length of the eves, then cut out that strip of ply. It'll be messy so wear your safety gear (ears, eyes) but that should be the fastest way to open it up.

Reinstall the soffit in reverse order of removal... and maybe add some spotlights before you close it all up.

 

[v7guy]

I wonder how many 6" hole saws you will go through caused by the number of holes you will need to make.

I also had my soffits fully blocked off my the PO of my house, go figure. Also had no gable or ridge vent. When I changed the roof last fall, I pulled out the soffits blocking board entirely as well as the fascia board and replaced the fascia only. It is amazingly cool up there now.

Upon inspection, I have now realized my house likely has the same blocked soffits judging by no light coming up into the attic. Thankfully, the house does have both gable and ridge vents. Not to thread hijack (sorry v7guy), but is both two gable and a ridge vent enough?

No worries, I'd be interested in the answer to your question too.
If the gable vents are giving you good circulation on the underside of the roof by exiting to the ridge you're good. I would be inclined to think that there isn't good circulation on the bottom third or so of the roof. No idea how you would test for such a thing.

 

[IONH]

No worries, I'd be interested in the answer to your question too.
If the gable vents are giving you good circulation on the underside of the roof by exiting to the ridge you're good. I would be inclined to think that there isn't good circulation on the bottom third or so of the roof. No idea how you would test for such a thing.

I should probably get up there with my trusty IR thermometer and see how the temps increase at the areas I can not easily crawl to.