Roofing woes: ridge, soffit, gables

So my house is in the middle of a roofing nightmare. We discovered mold due to improper ventilation, the house only had ONE gable vent.

Attic was remediated, and a ridge vent and front soffits were installed. Roofer did not put soffits on the back for unknown reasons. Several months later I found that the soffits are not connected to the attic, as we have no baffles.

We will not be doing soffits because our house is an old cape and baffles cannot be placed without tearing down walls, as the roof is over 8 feet down the front. Its not worth it until we need a new roof.

So here's the problem, one roofer said put in a second gable, close the ridge.

Another said just add a power vent. We've gotten advice to close the one remaining Gable, to add a second, to keep the ridge vent, close the ridge vent. I'm going nuts.

The latest recommendation is because our attic is small, install a second gable vent. Once that's done, I guess the question is, do we then close the ridge vent, or add a power vent for backup?

Can you have a ridge vent with two gable vents?

If we close the ridge vent, will two gable vents be enough or should we had a power vent that kicks on when humidity rises?

I'm pulling out my hair, we've had multiple expert opinions and each one is different. Even just had a roofer tell us he's seen many soffit/ridge vents with mold in the attic because the wind does not blow correctly over some houses and the passive air movement does not work...yet most people tend to say that is the best way to go. It's just not an option at this time.

 

The sounds like the best solution to me given the details you've provided. That said, I don't understand the part about the soffit vents and the baffles - baffles merely keep the insulation out of the way.

 

Basically we cannot connect the soffit vents to the attic. We have a sloped ceiling so there is no way to slide a vent from the attic to the soffit to allow airflow.

We would have to knock down the walls in two bedrooms and connect the vents to the attic. Not worth it until we have to redo the roof.

 

Another roofer told us we could do smartvents along the midline of the roof, then close the gables and use the ridge vent. But then we'd have to reshingle the entire roof.

I see a lot of discussion on closing gae vents if you have ridge/soffit, but not much information on whether you need to close the ridge vent if your intake is limited to two gable vents.

 

It's an over-simplification but more airflow is better than less. Therefore, closing anything you have does not make sense to me. I would add another gable and continue to leave the existing gable and ridge open.

 

Ill add my non-expert $0.02 here:

I have learned (the hard way) that having a power vent can solve one issue but introduce another. I suspect it might solve your ventilation issue, but--in my case-- it introduced a problem of downdraft in my chimney. Basically, I have air flowing down my chimney and out the fireplace into my living room (making the living room smell like a wet ashtray).

If you add power vent, intake must be added (ideally through soffit vents?)... otherwise it will take the path of least resistance. At best, that would be conditioned air from living areas, at worst-- my situation (and/or causing pilots on gas appliances to go out).

Again-- non expert here. Just passing on what I am learning. My house came with power vent.