Are Soffit vents the solution to ridge vents in unheated Wisconsin house?
We have an 1890s home in northeast Wisconsin we use in the summer but leave unheated the rest of the year. It has narrow and wide clapboard siding. It was last primed with oil primer and painted with latex about ten years ago. The south side has peeling paint. This may be caused by the new roof we had installed just prior to painting the house. The roof had ridge vents installed as part of the new roof. However, no soffit vents were installed at the same time.
We turn off the house water and electrical when we leave in the fall. I believe, in the unheated house over the winter, moisture may be getting trapped in the siding, heated on the south side by the sun, and then frozen. It’s a cycle that may be causing the paint to fail.
The oldest (1890s) part of the house is “balloon framed” meaning the studs run from the sill plates on the foundation to the roof framing. The remainder of the house (1950s addition is on standard “platform framing.”
Would soffit vents solve this problem?
Replies
I don't think soffit vents would make much difference. Anything going on with the soffits and venting is above the siding. I would install soffit vents to prolong the life of your shingles and roof decking, but the peeling paint is entirely another issue.
In an older home with poor air sealing it is possible that vapor drive is effecting the siding. By that I mean there may be high humidity levels in the house that are pushing water from the interior through the walls and into the siding. For that I would try monitoring the humidity in the house, and running a dehumidifier if the levels are high. If it is only on the south side, where siding takes the worst beating from the sun it may also have just been a poor prep job on the painting, or that the siding is near the end of its lifespan.