Have a soffett vent question

[Moderator, Steve]

Going out on a job in the morning installing 60 soffett vents around the home. This weekend I built me a jig to cut the hole enough so that the screws would be in good sound wood.

Then I did some thinking and came up with a logical question. The vent has louvers, which way do the louvers face? I did a quick walk through the neighbor hood and found them facing every different direction and one house had the vents all facing different directions.

I scratched my chin and found that there was not a standard. I did not like the louvers facing the street side as you can walk by the house and see the louvers when facing you, but then I thought that this would be the max in venting.

Now, I am completely confused. Which is the proper way to face the louvers?

What a dumb question, but really there must be a standard or rule of thumb. I would hate to install 60 and have some fanatic say they wanted them the other direction.

Any advice and rationale of being that way.

Jason, this may be in your field.

[Ron J.]

Steve,my first thought was that you should put the vents to the house. Just like a wall vent,they are angled so you won’t see behind,{Or in this case,above}.Just my opinion,Ron J.

[Jay J -Moderator]

Hi Steve,

I asked a couple of guys and they say that IF the louvers are at a 45 degree angle, have them face the house. In other words, you should NOT be able to see the opening(s) from the street. Wind could blow rain up into the louvers if they’re facing the street. Also, when they ‘face’ the house, the ‘view’ from the street should be ‘clean’, meaning that you won’t see ‘black’ as you look up.

Air is naturally drawn into the vents. Wind doesn’t really give you any advantage having them facing either way.

I, too, would be interested in reading what Jason has to say too. My best to ya and hope this helps.

Jay J -Moderator

PS: God Bless America!

PS: I hope your vents are screened …

[Jason]

Greetings Gang,

I never had that problem with vinyl soffit!

I had to think about this one because it is something that I have seen hundreds of times but, I was not looking for it.

At first I kept thinking about the proper mounting of a smoke detector, if it is mounted on the ceiling, too close to a wall, the smoke misses it! Nah, Forget that!

To the best of my memory, whenever I ran into a soffit that had the vent cups/rings, that I was planning to cover with vinyl, for the most part they were open to the house.

Some were to one side or the other but I think that they really did not think about it. For the most part, they are installed 3/4″ above the bottom of the fascia.

I think the direction of the opening is purely astectic. As stated earlier, the attic is going to draw what it needs as long as there is enough opening to alow it to.

I would think it would be more important to make sure you install one vent in between every joist and have a gable vent large enough or better still ridge vent to handle the flow of air. And make sure the attic insulation is not blocking the soffit vents.

See why you use vinyl, less chance to mess up!

I wish I could have been more help.

Best wishes,
Jason

[pb]

I dont think air flow or shedding water are of concern here, leaving appearance as the main factor. Dont forget that often the most important viewpoint is from inside the house. Any that you can see through the windows ought to look good from that perspective.

[Dodgeman]

From an engineering standpoint, as the wind blows against the side of the house, it is deflected upward and outward. So the best direction for the vents to face is towards the house for maximum air flow. This effect is much like the air vents located at the base of the windshield on you car. But on a house, the effect is so slight, I would agree to place them so they are the most pleasing to the eye.
Regards,
Dodgeman

[Moderator, Steve]

I came out without a clear answer. I like the look for the louvers to face the house, but is it purely visual appeal?

Come on guys, there has to be a standard or this would be every way, as its in my neighborhood.

Thanks,
Steve

[Jason]

Greetings M. Steve,

As I re-read your question, it came to me…

I think we tend to over think some problems!

I think what I would do is one of two things:

1. Call the manufacturer of the vent that you are installing and ask them. (I bet there is no instruction manual included).

2. Ask the home owner what they would prefer.

I vote for asking the home owner before you install them, what they would like before you install them, (and write it down and have them sign it), because, right or wrong, if they are not happy, YOU won’t be happy!

This could be a 50/50 chance of getting paid!

Best wishes,
Jason

ps.. It came to me that you are talking about the long rectangular type of vent, not the round ones I see so often. Again, with vinyl, this is not an issue!

[Scott]

On every home, condo,townhouse,and comerical building I have ever worked on,the vents angled towared the building,without exception.From downtown Chicago to the far ‘burbs’this is the rule.The only reason for the post maybe to let you sleep better if you held them to the wall,if not well…..One of the things I never questioned,just the way Iwas tought.Sleep well

[GlennG]

If you ever installed 2″ strip vents you may have noticed the fins are 50/50. Half face the house the other half face the street. It is purely personal preference. No difference.
“What ever blows your skirt up!”
Glenn

[Moderator, Steve]

and I decided after taking a sumation of all posts and fixed the vents where they face the home wall.

Looks better from the street, Seems that with our wind, the wind will hit the wall and bounce up to the vents and maybe vent more.

Anyway, it does look much better with them this way.

Many thanks to ALL the posters and I do appreciate the feed back.

Have a good day to all.

[Unregistered-mjhta@hotmail.com]

well, Frances visited us and we lost some of our aluminum soffetts- are these still made? We lost them on the SE side of our home, and on the NW side. We do not know of a suppier in our area-Jupiter, FL. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

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