How to Install an Attic Vent in an Older Brick Home

If you live in an older brick home, especially one without air conditioning, you know that hot summer days can make the inside of your home feel like an oven. Because of this, properly ventilating your home is a must. One area that you should focus on is the attic. The attic heats up from the sun beating down on the roof, as well as the hot air from the rest of the house rising upward. Installing a passive vent on the roof can allow some of the hot air to escape, cooling your home.

Hammer
Nail
Tape measure
Ladder
Safety harness
Chalk
Utility knife
Pry bar
Reciprocating saw
Safety goggles
Roofing cement
Galvanized roofing nails
Silicone adhesive

Instructions

- 1
  Drive a nail through the roof from inside the attic to mark the location of the vent. Select a location that is 2 to 3 feet from the peak of the roof, centered between two roof rafters.
- 2
  Measure the inner diameter of the bottom of the roof vent. You will cut a hole in the roof that matches this size.
- 3
  Climb up to the roof and go to the nail. Look for a spot on the roof where the shingles are raised off the sheathing.
- 4
  Draw a circle onto the roof that has a diameter that matches the measurement you took from the vent. Place the nail at the center of the circle.
- 5
  Cut the shingles along the circle with a utility knife, and pry the shingles inside the circle off the roof.
- 6
  Cut a hole in the roof with a reciprocating saw, making the cut along the edge of the circle where you removed the shingles.
- 7
  Apply roofing cement to the top of the shingles around the hole. This helps prevent leaks.
- 8
  Slide the top of the vent flange underneath the shingles that surround the top half of the hole, and press the bottom part of the flange firmly on top of the shingles around the bottom half of the hole. The flange is the flat part around the bottom of the vent.
- 9
  Nail the flange to the roof with galvanized roofing nails.
- 10
  Apply a thick bead of silicone adhesive on top of the galvanized nails on the flange, and around the edges of the flange to create a watertight seal.
- 11
  Nail down loose shingles around the vent with roofing nails.

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