Save Money on Roof Vent Leak (NOT ACTUALLY) by Installing Gutter System in Attic

Published March 4, 2014 | By Tony Guarino

One way to save money on a roof vent leak repair is to install a gutter system in your attic to channel the leak to the soffit area. This photo shows just that, a real life attic gutter system. Incidentally, this 8′ off ridge vent had to be replaced after the gutter system started leaking. Homeowners can sometimes be very crafty about getting past roof leak problems. It may not actually have been to save money, but a way to get past the problem more quickly.

By the way, Sunshine Roofing of SW FL, Inc. does not actually recommend this technique. We recommend calling us so we can investigate and give you a free estimate for roofing repair. Once we got approval to replace the 8′ roof vent, we did just that.

This is the existing vent before we messed with it. The vent was installed without any skirt flashings even though the tile was installed with fasteners.

: Taking up the vent from the roof and inspecting underneath. Wasn’t too bad, probably leaking in the vent somewhere and had not completely rotted the wood yet.

Removing and replacing 8′ roof vents is something we do quite often. We don’t recommend installing 8′ off ridge vents. We recommend installing 4′ off ridge vents. The 8′ off ridge vents seem to develop a sag in the center and end up holding water which will rot out the vent. The 4 ‘ vents are a little stronger due to less of a span and can be installed with a slight tilt to keep the water off of them. If one is already installed we will work with it as it is more costly to try to retrofit two 4′ off ridge vents in its place. Installing only one 4′ off ridge vent in place of an 8’ off ridge vent just doesn’t seem to cut it.