Stuck with ventilation problem

[Bluesbreaker]

Can somebody help?

I am part-way through a loft conversion, at the point of agreeing with the building inspector what sort of insulation I can use. We have hit upon an air-flow problem that I can't see a solution to. My house doesn't have any soffits - the rafters finish flush with the wall plate and there's a fascia board fixed front and back.

How do I get air flow into the roof space? The inspector suggested putting soffit vents in the fascia board at rafter centres, but I don't see how this will encourage air to flow into the roof space at all because the fascia is merely fixed to the wall of the house - although it could be my misunderstanding. She recommended I also replace the entire ridge with vented ridge tiles to allow air to escape, which is annoying because my roofer just did a cracking job of re-laying the existing ridge.

Any ideas or similar experiences?

Thanks

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

You either have soffit or fascia vents if its possible to fit them otherwise tile vents would suffice. If you don't want to rip your ridge off then a few tile vents will be needed at the top too. Pretty common on loftys where cross ventilation is restricted by a dormer.

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

Your inspecter sounds like she has not got a clue whats she is talking about.Soffit vents in your fascia and remove ALL your ridge where do they find these people?Do they advertise or just trawl care in the community programmes for suitable candidates?

 

[Bluesbreaker]

I'm glad it's not just me that thinks that. All I thought soffit vents in a fascia would do is keep the render behind them nice and dry! My roofer was far less complementary and left it to me to decide and get back to him.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I'm glad it's not just me that thinks that. All I thought soffit vents in a fascia would do is keep the render behind them nice and dry! My roofer was far less complementary and left it to me to decide and get back to him.

Your roofer sounds like a **** and if he had a brain he would have asked if you wanted vents putting in. The 'designer' (whoever may that be!) should have know in advance too!

Before you go slagging off the inspector you wanna take a look in the mirror!

 

[Bluesbreaker]

I'm not slagging anyone and I am not the designer. I left that to the roofer/builder who did my dormer and joisting, including liaising with the building inspector over what was permissable.

I was intending to do the the second fix and finishing myself but now find I need to take a few steps back and find a way around the ventilation issue, which I thought was taken care of. My roofer isn't interested in helping me resolve it, to be honest and blames the council for telling him different things each time he speaks to them. I don't know if this is the case, but I know I need to find a way around this.

 

[noseall]

I'm not slagging anyone and I am not the designer. I left that to the roofer/builder who did my dormer and joisting, including liaising with the building inspector over what was permissable.

Ahhh, the old "by pass the designer and do it on a buildings notice to save a few quid" trick.

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

I'm glad it's not just me that thinks that. All I thought soffit vents in a fascia would do is keep the render behind them nice and dry! My roofer was far less complementary and left it to me to decide and get back to him.

Your roofer sounds like a **** and if he had a brain he would have asked if you wanted vents putting in. The 'designer' (whoever may that be!) should have know in advance too!

Before you go slagging off the inspector you wanna take a look in the mirror!

Seems a bit harsh,you cant expect the customer to know can you.I agree the roofer should have know but thats hardly the OP fault.The inspecter sounds numb if you ask me,soffit vents in facsia ive seen many things in my time but never that.I do believe they are called soffit vents as they are designed for soffits.

 

[cumbrianroofer]

my advice is put in over fascia vents and or tile vents the roofer would probably do his at extra cost if it wasnt specified in the first place to put them in which is surely a design fault notthe roofers also why not just put in a couple of ridge vents rather than replace the whole ridge (what exactly is the point of a building inspector that dosnt know what is required to pass the bilding inspection)

 

[Bluesbreaker]

I wish I had saved a few quid, but I did it with a straight bat. I submitted a full BCO application, the builder (who is also the roofer to whom I refer) subbed an architect to work out the design and a structural engineer did the calcs. So I tried to do everything above board and thought the pros would get the design right. I guess it's just an oversight.

The above-fascia ventilation seems like a good idea. I'll pursue that one a bit further. I appreciate the inspector is merely doing the job to ensure the conversion is fit for purpose, but I am getting some inconsistenty and suggestions that have left the builder scratching his head (and rather angry).

 

[Cumbrianroofer30yrsexp]

Thats your problem me thinks=Builder come roofer,to you an old cliche "jack of all trades,master of none".

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I wish I had saved a few quid, but I did it with a straight bat. I submitted a full BCO application, the builder (who is also the roofer to whom I refer) subbed an architect to work out the design and a structural engineer did the calcs. So I tried to do everything above board and thought the pros would get the design right. I guess it's just an oversight.

The above-fascia ventilation seems like a good idea. I'll pursue that one a bit further. I appreciate the inspector is merely doing the job to ensure the conversion is fit for purpose, but I am getting some inconsistenty and suggestions that have left the builder scratching his head (and rather angry).

Sounds like your drawings are a bag of sh**e then, ventilation is such a big issue in loftys, I'm very surprised it slipped through the Approval process without a mention on the drawings somewhere. Its pretty dopey builder doing a loft without thinking about ventilation too. Builders anger can sometimes be masking their embarrassment!

 

[Bluesbreaker]

To be fair, the builder's work is top drawer and he's been good to work with. He's rightly p****d off at having to come back to a job he thought was finished. I'll have to pay him, obviously, but he's in the middle of something else now. Whether he should have seen it coming is another thing.

But the drawings were indeed a bag of s***e, because the bloke got the headroom completely wrong for an en-suite and I ended up having to stall everything while applying for planning permission to include a dormer (original plan was Velux only). There was no mention of ventilation on the drawings we submitted and the inspector said it just passed her by somehow. Next time, I'll read up on everything myself and try to oversee the job without treading on anyone's toes. For a big, important job like this, I thought i'd get my cheque book out and leave it to people who know what they're doing. Despite minor setbacks, I'm glad I did.

So it's above-fascia vents for me then.

 

[datarebal]

my advice is put in over fascia vents and or tile vents the roofer would probably do his at extra cost if it wasnt specified in the first place to put them in which is surely a design fault notthe roofers also why not just put in a couple of ridge vents rather than replace the whole ridge (what exactly is the point of a building inspector that dosnt know what is required to pass the bilding inspection)

CORRECT..