I am in the process of adding more insulation to my attic. I am doing this because of some ice damming that I am getting. I have also notice upon further inspection that I am getting some mold and dampness on the inside of roof on the plywood. I have been reading about this and understand that these issues are due impart to not enough insulation and possible improper ventilation. My current house construction only allows for only soffit vents on one side of the house. I currently have seven roof vents and only four soffit vents. I want to insure that the work I am doing is going to fix my issues. I was planning on adding at least enough insulation to bring the total inches up to 18 inches which is the suggested amount for my location. I am also am replacing the cardboard roof baffles with manufactured ones to help with the ventilation. I was wondering since I don’t have the availability to add ventilation on one side of the house is there anything that I could do to insure proper ventilation? If I added more soffits to equal the exhaust roof vents would that be good enough.

Vents are to be split 1/2 high and 1/2 low according to most code books. You could add a electric powered vent near the top of the roof to assist with the lack of hi vents. You can also add a tempersture control to it if one does not come in the box and also add a humidity control. This way if the humidity gets to high it will also turn on as well as when it reaches the temperature set on the control for fan actiavtion.

Check all ceiling penetrations right below the attic. Many homes have moisture problems in the attic caused by indoor moist air getting into the attic space from around nonsealed penetrations. Can lights,vent pipes,etc. Also make sure all bath fans vent OUT not just to the sofit area.

Thanks for the response. For right I will try sealing all the penetration areas and I will equal out the soffit to roof vents as you suggest.

Thanks,

It can be a lot of work but the energy savings along with proper vents will be worth it.