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We have a traditional pole building built in 1985, and live in central Washington. Half of its footprint (2400 sf) is an apartment.. The ceiling is joists with fiberglass insulation. In the attic the middle 3rd square area is sheathed with OSB. The two outer thirds are not covered--just open batts of fiberglass is seen.

We recently had the roof replaced-re-sheeted and comp roofing plus a 40’ ridge vent installed.

We just now had fiberglass insulation installed between all the roof purlins. I noticed that there was insulation put under the ridge vent.

With this unconventional build, lack of trusses, no soffit baffles or gable venting, is the ridge vent adequate venting (if I remove this insulation from it)?

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    What does "middle 3rd square area" mean? 3rd isn't the same as 1/3 or "third", if that's what you intended to say. It means number 3 in a sequence. Please revise to be more clear about that. Also take the tour. Commented Nov 27, 2024 at 19:00

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The ridge vent provides an outlet for warm, moist air to escape from the attic. This can only happen if fresh air can enter the attic, creating balanced airflow.

The lack of soffit baffles or gable venting is not good from a balanced airflow standpoint. You could have a ridge vent system tied into Tesla's new 1000+ horsepower engine and you'd still be hosed (on second thought, you'd probably blow off your roof 🤪).

Removing the insulation under the ridge vent will help the situation - but it will likely not move the needle in terms of the fan's effectiveness.

The fiberglass between the purlins is also a strike against you from an airflow standpoint.

The bottom line is ventilation relies on the 'stack effect', where cooler air enters through lower vents (intake) and warmer air exits through upper vents (exhaust). Without intake, the ridge vent won’t function efficiently.

Get a roofing contractor or professional exhaust fan installer (many of the top fan brands have certified installer programs) to spec out a solution to your problem if you conclude that adding soffit or gable vents is a non-starter.

And get this fixed before Summer :) I don't want you to roast!

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  • Thank you for the advice…will definitely get this resolved Commented Nov 28, 2024 at 17:06

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