Vent-A-Hood WSDC1212-SS Stainless Steel 12″ Duct Cover for the CWLH9 Range Hood

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Vent-A-Hood WGDC-12/30SS Stainless Steel 12″ Extendable Duct Cover for the GTH Range Hood

Buy Vent-A-Hood WGDC-12/30SS Stainless Steel 12″ Extendable Duct Cover for the GTH Range Hood at Amazon

Red Oak Wood Vent Cover -Medium

These attractive, solid wood vent covers let you create handsome ventilation areas in TV cabinets, entertainment centers, and more. Unfinished. Available in two sizes: SMALL is for a 2-1/4″ x 10″opening (overall size, including overlap, is 3-3/4″ x 11-3/16″ x 3/4″). MEDIUM is for a 3″ x 12″ opening (overall size, including overlap, is 4-1/2″ x 13-3/16″ x 3/4″).

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Cherry Wood Vent Cover -Small

These attractive, solid wood vent covers let you create handsome ventilation areas in TV cabinets, entertainment centers, and more. Unfinished. Available in two sizes: SMALL is for a 2-1/4″ x 10″opening (overall size, including overlap, is 3-3/4″ x 11-3/16″ x 3/4″). MEDIUM is for a 3″ x 12″ opening (overall size, including overlap, is 4-1/2″ x 13-3/16″ x 3/4″).

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What to Do About Water Damage in Your Attic

Wintry climates
If you live somewhere that snows in the winter, ice dams will be your biggest concern. The best way to prevent ice dams from forming is to keep the attic at least five degrees warmer than outside. If there is snow on the roof, do not attempt to remove it; you could damage your roof. Instead, check all exterior walls for staining. If you find any, act quickly to avoid further damage. Call a qualified professional and get help. If you do get ice dams, do not attempt to remove them, you could cause more damage to your roof. Besides calling a professional, you can temporarily remedy the problem by cutting grooves into the ice to allow the pooled water to drain. Just be sure to not cut all the way down to the shingles.

Ventilation
Bad ventilation can keep the attic humid causing condensation to run ramped, but this is not only place to worry about humidity. Research has indicated that humidity in the living space is a major cause of condensation in the attic. To help prevent this, be sure that the attic is sealed off from the rest of the house. If discoloration, condensation or mold is found on or around your vents, immediately trace it to the source, and repair the damage right away. It is also important to check outside for debris that may be building up on the vents.

Insulation
Insulation is going to be like a canary in a coalmine when it comes to early prevention of water damage. The most important time to check your insulation is after it has rained. Be sure to give it a good feel, even if it looks dry, because the slightest amount of moisture means you probably don’t have enough ventilation. Keeping your insulation in good condition is not only important for preventing water damage, but it will also keep your heating bill from running up, up and away.

Floor, ceiling and crawl spaces
These areas take a bit more time to check for signs of moisture, but are just as important as the rest of the attic. Be sure to use a flashlight and check thoroughly for discoloration and staining, as these will be harder to spot than rot and warping. Also, be sure to look with your hands as well as your eyes, especially around nails as they are metal and condensation will settle on them first.

Recessed lighting
Checking in and around recessed lights is one the most reliable way of detecting possible water damage. If you find corrosion or rust in the lights, be careful, it could be an electrical hazard. If you know how, turn off your power and repair the light, other wise call an electrician. Also be sure to trace the damage to its source and make all necessary repairs.

Maple Wood Vent Cover -Medium

These attractive, solid wood vent covers let you create handsome ventilation areas in TV cabinets, entertainment centers, and more. Unfinished. Available in two sizes: SMALL is for a 2-1/4″ x 10″opening (overall size, including overlap, is 3-3/4″ x 11-3/16″ x 3/4″). MEDIUM is for a 3″ x 12″ opening (overall size, including overlap, is 4-1/2″ x 13-3/16″ x 3/4″).

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Best Bathroom Ventilation: Vent Away Moisture and Mold with these Tips

 

The American bathroom is undergoing a major renovation. The standard 5′x8′ bathroom with a tub and shower combo is giving way to a spa-like setting with artistic styling and unique materials. Bathroom ventilation however, is frequently underpowered to handle the steam, humidity and warm temperatures that result, and won’t prevent the bathroom mold and mildew that can follow.

There are many new options for bathroom renovations that will help you create a bathroom that looks great, performs well, and is relaxingly beautiful. Included among these, are some real advances in bath ventilation that can keep these rooms looking great for years to come.

How to vent your steam
Warm temperatures and lots of humidity make a bathroom a hot spot for mold and mildew growth. Uncontrolled humidity can cause allergy problems and damage windows, walls and ceilings by encouraging the growth of molds, mildew, bacteria, dust mites, dry rot and insects. To prevent your bathroom from becoming a Petri dish, you’ll need a powerful bathroom vent fan.

There are three kinds of fans that can do the job; bath fans, remote fans and energy or heat recovery ventilators. Bath fans are installed directly in the bathroom, usually on the ceiling, and discharge moisture to the exterior via a duct. Remote fans, also known as multi port ventilators, are mounted elsewhere in the building, such as in the attic, and use ducts to exhaust air from one or more bathrooms at the same time.

In addition to being able to handle larger baths, one popular advantage of multi port ventilator is that they are extremely quiet. Since the fan is mounted in a remote location, very little sound is transmitted to the bathroom.

Today’s newer homes may, but don’t always, include bathroom ventilators. Surprisingly, in some areas of the country, builders are not required to install a bath fan if the bathroom has a window, as if you could just leave a window open on a chilly winter morning! If your builder expects you to shower in sub-zero conditions, make sure you ask for a bath fan to be installed when the bathroom is built.

In addition, it is very important that bath fans be vented correctly. One of the most common mistakes builders make is venting the bathroom into the attic, which just transfers the moisture and mold problem overhead. Efficient bathroom ventilators must vent to the outdoors, sending moisture back into the environment.

Typically, the exhaust vents should be located over or near the shower or bathtub and in an enclosed water closet. With windows closed, exhausted air will be replaced by makeup air from adjacent rooms or forced air system registers. Bathroom doors should also be undercut by at least 1 inch to allow return air to enter the room.

Your bathroom ventilator should be left on for 20 minutes after use of the bathroom. A timer is a good solution, allowing the fan to turn off automatically at the proper time. For steam showers it is best to have a separate fan in the steam room that can be turned on after use.

For bathrooms up to 100 square feet in area, the Home Ventilation Institute (HVI) recommends that an exhaust fan provide 1 CFM per square foot (approximately eight air changes per hour) to properly ventilate the bathroom. For example, if the bathroom is 8′ x 5′ (with 8′ ceilings), your bathroom area is 40 square feet. At 1 CFM per square foot, the minimum recommendation is a fan rated at 40 CFM.

For bathrooms above 100 square feet in area, HVI recommends a ventilation rate based on the number and type of fixtures present, according to the following table:

Toilet: 50 CFM Shower: 50 CFM Bath Tub: 50 CFM Jetted Tub: 100 CFM

 

For example, if the bathroom is 20′ x 12′ with a tub (without jets), a shower enclosure and an enclosed toilet, each fixture will require 50 CFM, so the minimum recommendation for a ventilator is 150 CPM.

For bathrooms this size, you have two options:

Install a 50 CFM bath vent fan over the tub, one in the shower and one in the water closet. This method is very effective and will provide ventilation where and when it’s needed. Or, install one 150 CFM fan. The air will then be pulled through the entire room and exhausted at a central location.

 

American Metal 4In Vent Cap – 2Wall 4EC

For use as a Ventilation Cap as well as Type B Vent Termination. Protects against waste gases spilling back into the structure through the appliances draft hood.

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How does a Ventilating Cupola provide Attic Ventilation?

Copyright (c) 2009 Elda Titus

“More gold has been mined from the thoughts of men than has been taken from the earth.” By Napoleon Hill

The American Institute of Architects estimates 90 % of U.S. high levels of moisture in the homes.

Adding a cupola provides passive ventilation to the roof allowing trapped heat to escape with a natural flow in an upward direction through the sides of the cupola.

A roof saver, attic ventilation is all about circulating air to reduce moisture and bring in fresh air.

According to studies conducted by the U.S. Dept. of Energy and the American Society of heating and cooling engineers the benefits of roof ventilation is supported.

Insufficient ventilation can lead to moisture problems during the winter and decreased energy efficiency in the summer.

In an unventilated attic the roof sheathing may reach a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit when the outside temperature is in the 90′s.

The attic heats from direct sunlight on the roof that radiates heat. This is then transmitted through the roofing material to the attic floor or the top surface of the ceilings insulation, causing the attic air to become heated.

The attic floor then acts as a “hot plate,” radiating warm air in the rooms below, causing an increase in your air conditioning requirements.

A ridge vent, such as a functional cupola, helps provide air circulation in the attic and allows for excessive attic air to escape through its sides on the top of the roof.

Suffit vents found along the bottom perimeter of the attic space, work well when used in conjunction with ridge vents to promote the circulation of attic air.

In colder climates, preventing moisture damage is a much greater benefit then in warmer climates.

Attic ventilation is required in colder climates to evacuate the warm, moist air that builds from the living space below. This air can condense causing the roof sheathing to rot.

Circulating air from ventilation helps prevent ice, dams, which form when warm air in the attic melts the snow and creates a run off that refreezes on the colder eave.

Suffit vents allow air to enter the attic at the lowest point of the roof. They are more effective when used in conjunction with a continuous ridge vent, such as a cupola.

Adding a cupola to the roof allows a way for trapped heat to escape, by providing a natural flow in an upward direction through the sides of a cupola. This passive ventilation lets the warm air escape while bringing in cool air.

Cupolas were originally designed for functionality, as a ventilating system. Today there has been a rebirth of interest in cupola for decorative architectural accent as well as the functional aspect of ventilation, and are placed on the roof tops of houses, garages, businesses.

Cupolas not only improves the attic ventilation they provide an eye-catching exterior focal point which adds warmth, tradition and a little country charm that will add value to your property for years to come.

Every Homeowner Should Know About Bathroom and Attic Ventilation

Attic ventilation is a critical component to maintaining even temperatures in your attic all year long. In the summer it saves on the life of your shingles by keeping the boards cooler and decreases your cooling costs in the winter weather by diminishing the temperature difference which in turn prevents moisture build up in the form of condensation. Did you know that having a proper amount of attic ventilation is even required to enforce the warranty of most shingle manufacturers?? When it comes to mold the most import ventilation concerns occur in the winter. In the winter during the coldest months as we run our furnaces, hot air escapes into the cold unheated attic space. When the escaping hot air emerges into the cold attic it rises as heat always does. It seeks out the highest portions of the attic where it then coalesces against the cold boards of the roof. This hot- air-mass-meets-cold-surface phenomena results in a condition known as dew point, which creates moisture in the form of water droplets and ice crystals. The nails themselves also will contribute to this moisture problem as iron is a good conductor of temperature and will readily convey the biting chill of cold winter air directly inside the attic. The evidence of this can be seen in the form of drips and of drip spots underneath the nails themselves.

Bathroom fans vented directly into the attic or Soffet areas rather than straight through the roof are also to blame for exacerbated moisture problems which lead to mold, wood- rot and health problems. The more adults showering in the house and the longer the showers the more moisture will enter an attic. In fact in some families the bathroom fans alone are the sole culprit responsible for major mold infestations!

If you want to eliminate attic mold permanently you need to get equal amounts of intake air and exhaust or out-take air into your attic.

Building scientists have proven that using a balanced ventilation system that utilizes equal amounts incoming and out going air. Incoming air comes in from under the eves through vents cut in the underside of the roof overhangs which are called soffets. Proper Soffet ventilation is essential to large amounts of incoming air needed for intake. Many attics were originally vented properly but have become packed with insulation along the way by an over-zealous insulation contractor or homeowner, in an attempt to actually stop air from coming in, sadly a common mistake. This mistake was very common in the 80′s and 90′s.

There are two basic types of Soffet vents: either a contiguous vent or a individual vents which come in round and square varieties. I generally prefer to use 6 inch by 12 inch square vents because of the ease of installation and the low material cost. They work surprisingly well and offer a lot of surface area. They can be purchased easily in brown white and silver to match virtually any siding.

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