@Charles Dolly far more efficient. It keeps heat out of the attic so your a/c doesn't have to work as hard. Sealing air leaks is almost as important as insulation itself. Watch more of Matt's videos on the subject, they're very eye-opening.

And I can tell you by experience - we added a ridge vent and yes water gets in in really bad storms - have seen the wet rafters with repeated over the years where it runs the lowest point. But it’s the trash that comes in (no trees over my roof, not even near - except a crepe myrtle but no over the roof). My neighbors have maples with the winged things but they are a good 40-50 ft away but way up over their homes - and their leaves and pods, etc end up at my house and in the gutters growing lovely collection of maple trees. Makes me so mad. I cut down the trees over my house for this issue…. And the big issue is after living here 35 years now I have mice and possibly roof rats that get in in the winter. Maybe small squirrels. I’m now having to deal with this. Why don’t they net and put small hardware to close up the space. Why because builders convinced me this was the way to go to keep my attic cool.

What does a non vented attic do to a shingle tile roof? I'm hearing it makes go bad much sooner. How would you fix that issue?

@@danieljenkins3382 You still vent the roof, basically you build out the framing completely encapsulated, and then build a vented roof on top of that enclosure. That would require a layer of sheathing as your standard roof, waterproofing membrane, then ideally foam board insulation, then if you have shingles you'll do 1x3 or 1x2 furring strips that create that air gap for you, sheathing on top of that vented at the top, then the shingles and ridge vent on top of that. That way, the sun beats down on the shingles, heats up the sheathing below, then hits that air gap, and foam board insulation stop it from working much further, and the hot air convection works that air upwards towards that ridge vent before it can push through the foam insulation board. So you still get your venting, but have the benefit of waterproofing below that two layers that's completely encapsulated, insulation below the venting, and not using your entire attic for that venting process.

@@moocowzrock Thanks for the info... Another question: how would you do this with a home built in 2015?

Regulations in building materials may have affected that

the lack of HVAC helped a ton in reducing issues with mold, etc. back then.

I was laughing when he said 120-130 degree attic temperature. 160 degrees easy. And when does the ground temperature get down to 50 degrees? Did he mean Celcius?

Ya I shot a roof deck with my ir camera in a heavy trees area. 185 degrees 0 ventilation

I dont think this guy has ever actually ever worked a day i his life... No doubt hes smart but, hes spouting a sales pitch.. "ducts shouldnt be in attic, ducts shouldnt be in crawl". Instead condition those areas" sure dude tight envelopes cause to many issues with air. Go teach a class somewhere nd stay out of builders way.

Anthony M uh, I think you need to do some research. This guy is an amazing builder and has been for a long time. He’s done the work and builds some of the best houses in the country. Before slamming someone you obviously know nothing about, get your facts straight cause it makes you just look foolish.

Yuma AZ changed out an A/H in an attic under a shingled roof and it was 180 f

I thought it was pretty funny too!

Especially considering he went down with his right hand and the person drawing is using their left hand lol.

I was about to say... aint NO WAY I'm taking home building advice from a man with hands like those lol.

EnviroHealth that’s not a left hand drawing lol

Ala Jimmy Fallon......

Brick is not waterproof...........allows moisture to weep out.

When I go to Taco Bell of Del Taco and ask a question about an item all I hear is taco, taco, taco, taco.

Yep. I'll give him a pass since this is not food related.

the terms taco and burrito are applied differently in different areas of the county ......but this isn't a food video

@@paulbrunner72GenX Where? What city could I go to where a taco is a burrito or a vice-versa? I've been all over this country & have eaten at dozens of Mexican restaurants, taco stands, food trucks & have never ordered a taco & gotten a burrito or vice-versa. There's many styles of tacos (hard shell, soft shell, puffy, deep fried) & at least 2 styles of burritos--but the twain never have met in my experience.

Or a fajita from a chalupa. Lol

Sizing the system in a situation like you are talking about is key.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing this info

Excellent info, thank you.

You really make the case against insulating the attic with foam. In high humidity, the hot roof in contact with cool attic air will cause condensation under the foam and the roof sheathing will rot. It only takes one small area to cause a major problem. This video could cause a number of lawsuits.

@@flfl3969 He mentioned using open-cell spray foam, which is vapor permeable. The open-cell spray foam also acts as a radiant barrier, which reflects the heat back up towards the roof deck. Therefore, the majority of the heat does not make it to the colder side in the conditioned attic. For these two reasons, condensation is not an issue, unless the spray foam was installed incorrectly. - Also interesting food for thought since you mentioned lawsuits: The majority of homes I see being switched from a vented attic to a sealed attic were ironically the result of a lawsuit against the builder because of their vented attic system causing issues. So it seems to be the other way around in my experience.

Great, in my new-to-me 1996 Fort Worth home with an non-ventilated, incredibly hot attic, I thought I had an answer. And you say no, don’t seal and insulate. But yet to open up and vent would be dumb. Now more stuck than ever.

Summer is torture in the south.

Questionable construction ideas and sexual orientation... hmm. You may be onto something.

Why not have a sealed crawlspace using cleanspace? My employer specializes in sealing crawlspaces to remove mold and water. This method covers dirt and walls in 24mil plastic creating a barrier which is then paired with a dehumidifier for extreme cases.

Whereabouts on the panhandle? How tall was the crawl space?

yup, OC has 50 year Premium Cool,duration shingles, require vented attics, or warranty is void, I just had them put on my house, roofer added vents to meet the required air flow on top of what was already there, the Shingles are also energy star rated, as they reflect some of the suns heat due to the minerals added to them, so you can also get a tax credit.

Isn't an 8ft crawl space called a basement?

Almost every house down here in south Florida is slab on grade.

TheOneWhoMightBe If the Yankees are dumb enough to buy the houses, I say let them waste their money so they can leave sooner.

Seriously. The guys that built my neighbor’s house in the South were so dumb they framed with a wrench, plumbed with a brush, and painted with a hammer...

TheOneWhoMightBe, when it all turns to custard though the Lawyers also drag down the Architect and Building certifiers. Same thing happened in NZ with the leaky house disaster $11 billion repair problem, James Hardies Lawyers have more money to defend than your average Mum & Dad home owner.

Green. Screen. Board.

Yes - older homes with sturdy construction in terms of denser, heavier wood and brick/block type construction and heavy boards 2x12 boards on the roof and now 3/4 plywood on it. Old style slate. I just sold a house built in 1952 and I’m now thinking I was crazy to sell that house. Had at least 10” thick walls outside 2-3 layers of real brick with under the house concrete block. The inside walls mostly still plaster but the wall assemblies were like 8” - once you closed the real wood doors - didn’t hear much noise from room to room. And each room had a large closet installed in the bedroom, backing up to a closet in the hall which backed up to the bathroom. The bathroom backed up to a large built in bookcase that backed to the living room. The master had a 3’x 8’ wide closet and then a walk through pocket door laundry closet for towels etc that attached to its bathroom. Should have sold mine and moved there. These old houses had 1 layer glass no thermal. Insulation in walls almost non existent much less attics. Yet these homes are still standing 100, 200, 300 years later with its windows. They start blocking them up so the wood can’t breathe and you get all kinds of problems. You know I don’t remember the cost to heat was all that great. Yes there were fireplaces. And wood stoves etc. one we lived in had a wood cook stove in the kitchen, a wood stove in the living room, and fireplaces in the upstairs bedrooms. I know it was solid wood lap siding type boards and there was a thin plaster layer but there was newspaper in the wall itself. Old metal roof. If it leaked, my grandfather patched it and tarred it - later painted it. I know a couple houses we lived in used coal to heat it and one or two was oil drums so oil heated to the furnaces. Some used natural gas in the city mostly. Here we are in 2022 and we still don’t have natural gas. Have to use propane for fireplace, and appliances if you want that over electricity. To me we are going backwards and costing more and more to build and they are more toxic day after day. And they just don’t seem to be able to last. Many of the new homes are having to be rebuilt at years 15-20. The floors, not being true wood, the laminate coatings have come off, can’t be refinished, and have to be replaced starting at year 15-20. Windows failing at about 10-15 years. Roofs not making it to the stated 40-50 years. I saw a metal roof the other day only limited warranted to 30 years. Explain that to me when I have see barns with metal roofing and old houses that the metal roofing is already well past 100+ years. Every 40-50 years might want to prime and paint them with a good linseed oil based paint not the junk sold these days. Todays metal roofs are suppose to have these miracle coatings, why would a warranty expire at 30 yrs and be limited. Furnaces use to be 50-75 years. Not now. Heat pumps, my first went 25 years and had one repair. Now the folks are telling me 10 maybe 15 years tops in new one. Appliances - anyone over 65 knows that they use to last 25-30 years easily. Not today maybe 5-10 maybe. My old washer an dryer was used from my grandparents (got in late 70s, early 80s) and came to my house after moving half way across the country and coming back. Prior was in a basement. And then sat at my house for 10 yrs with 2 repairs. The dryer I still have - I do have to tape the door close. It needs a new handle, magnets won’t hold. We are talking a 42 year dryer. I bought a new oven in 2000 and by 2008 - was shot due to the computer board which couldn’t be replaced, thank you GE. The washing machine bought 2013/2014 had to have 3 repairs due to balancer springs on tub. That model from HD - came with three. According to repair man, the same model purchased elsewhere has 4 balance springs (I think that’s what they call them) - keeps the front loader tub in balance when spinning). I have decided it will have to carry on until it quits and I will buy something else and make sure what’s in it. Too expensive to get back out here- 5-6 repairs now. Had new windows put in - oh my gosh I wish I had pulled the old windows, repaired and had inside storm window thermal panel done that they use in historical buildings. Buying replacement windows means you will be putting in new ones every 10-15 years. Are you seeing a pattern - based on several friend’s brand new houses - at about 10 years all appliances are shot, and then at 10-15 the major parts of the house have to be replaced. And they just aren’t built well, nor installed well. Painting needs to be redone at about 5 years - sheet rock not properly primed and using builders grade paint with almost no pigment just gets absorbed into the sheetrock. When the fillers fail, just disappear into the air - no color left. One friend has a house he could stick his finger through the sheetrock (hole) wall to the siding no insulation, no real protection to the outside. Was always cold. How did the inspectors miss these things. It’s like developers use the very cheapest things they can find. Not their issue - once they are gone and have moved on - it’s your problem. You accepted in on walk through. Now as you said we know old houses centuries old are still standing - what is the problem that new houses can’t make it to the 20 year mortgage mark without major redos. People are having to repair what’s there instead of adding on or adding those luxuries they planned in when the house was paid off. It’s crazy. These type of houses aren’t even really pretty - like big boxes unless you are custom building at $1 million and up. I just don’t understand it.

@@plips71755 It's easy to understand. In the past you had to put a lot of money down before a mortgage loan. They also calculated for no more than 20 percent of single earner wages for monthly payment. Then the loans typically were from a trust or savings and loan. This would be existing money not newly created money from a bank. In this way the housing didn't bubble in price. At the same time the mortgage didn't go hyperbolic paying interest to the banker. The economy was also more industrial capitalist, so the other side of debt instruments was equity and production, not finance engineering and speculation. They were more productive because there were fewer rake offs to a parasite class. Today things have to be made like crap to squeeze maximum profit to pay the overhead that finance is raking off. Or, think of it like a highway man taking tolls for you to pass.

I am in the same boat. Old brick house with a lot of layers. I have sealed under my floors with bubble foil still letting the crawlspace breathe. Walls filled with fluff celulose so I didnt have to redo all my drywall. Now I am installing radiant foil on the back of my roof rafters. All this for less than $2k.

kirby lane update this post in 12 years just to be sure, I’d like to see if they still cook or not.

@@derrickroberts93 he did the right thing by venting the house like he did. Remember that everything has to breathe. Such as your self, car, house, pets, and tubs and toilets well you get what I mean. The way it was before he fixed it, the house was unable to breathe correctly. Have a great day Sir.

Was former contractor, Vented areas VERY important.

This guy makes a great politition.

5000 home inspections later, unvented attics in Florida all have failing roof systems unless metal or tile. Worst are the reflective barriers in attic rafters that can deteriorate architectural shingles in as little as 7 years. Similar with unvented crawl space. The unrelenting high humidity of Florida soil will rot your joists withing 20 years even if a vapor barrier was applied on the ground or the joists. Florida crawl spaces have to be vented.

T. B. They still vent attics and a whole house attic fan will actually do a great job of cooling your home relatively speaking. I prefer a high efficiency TRANE XV 20 system my self.

So I live in the south and have the type of attic he doesnt suggest...house built in 1992, but it pretty much looks like the "new house". I also have a ventilated crawl space, with some plain vents, and the automatic ones that come on when it's a certain humidity or temperature, and a dehumidifier in the crawlspace. I recently saw something with the spray foam insulation and got super excited about it...are you saying that it isnt a good idea to do that in the south?

Why would you suggest that moist air condenses to water when the roof “cools” off at night. This is possible only when those surfaces get below the dew point of that air mass. When you state it this way you are saying that the vented attic design supports the condensation of water to liquid in the attic on those cold surfaces. I hope this isn’t true because there wouldn’t be too many homes still in tact south of Arkansas. They would have all rotted to the ground. By sealing out that air to begin with you prevent the moist air from entering the attic to begin with, so that attic space becomes air that is actively managed rather than not, and the humidity is physically removed. There will always be some point where that warm humid air mass exists, but the key is to never let it touch a cold surface, because that is the point where condensation will happen. A properly sealed attic doesn’t allow that cold surface to ever touch the warm humid air, so thus, no condensation. A ventilated attic is the attic that allows the condensation, not the other way around. Yet people are missing this. And paying a huge price for continually having to remove a massive amount of moisture as condensate in their a/c units, and having a much higher humidity level in their homes, supporting the growth of more nasties and mold itself. That’s why your average hotel room in a humid warm climate stinks of mold, because of cyclic humid and heat followed by rapid cooling (occupancy changes) and the air is never allowed to stabilize at a lower, dryer condition.

@@tabithaforbes775 Spray foams can have toxic outgassing issues. Houses breath from the bottom, and so air constantly enters your house from the crawl space via structural air gaps. If you have toxicity in the crawl space, you will be breathing it. Also, I have seen that foam is highly flammable. Thus, if a plumber needs to use a torch under the house ( as I recently had done ) he could easily set your house on fire.

This guy also hasn't researched shingle manufacturers that are not honoring warranties with spray foamed or "conditioned" attics. It's literally cooking the shingles and killing the life of them resulting in a much shorter lifespan for the shingles.

You need to vent in order to reduce moisture unless you have a mechanical source to keep air moving.

Just what I was about to say. Here in Brasil we use bricks or concrete blocks everywhere, and waterproofing is essential, easy and cheap. And then you can also add waterproofed stucco on top and some water resistant paint if you want.

Lee_CPA I was thinking the same thing I was like what the hell they got these things almost going around in circles and underneath and above and below and other one WTF was that guy thinking he must have gotten a lot of money for that insulated air ducting. He used a hell of a lot more than he needed to. I used to call idiots like that my job security before I was disabled. As I would come in that house and be able to tear them apart and get a lot of money out of the home owners of course I had pissed off a few of them because they may be their houses built by someone they know and I come in there and trash all their work that they did.

I agree, I have a 100 year old house with no mold in the crawl space, it was properly vented and there has never been a problem. The attic as well. Somebody knew something back then to avoid the problems Matt has addressed. But I do like the idea of insulating the attic to make it conditioned air space. I understand that there are problems with shortening the lifespan of the roof if you insulate it in the rafters. Anyone with knowledge of this?

When we added power vents to the roof and ventilated soffit, the power bill went from $400 a month to under $100 a month. The A/C used to run constantly during daylight hours and the temperature inside the house would hit 80. Now, we can keep it st a comfortable 72 degrees and the A/C runs maybe 10 minutes out of every hour during the day.

Wow! I can see that's a "downside" to your home and budget. I live in the south and there are plenty of dry days when dry air is vented into the attic and crawl space to keep them dry. There is a natural balance to humid days and dry days. The proof is under my house and in its attic.

It is like the video compares well planned non vented roofs to poorly executed vented roofs. Though it seems to me that non vented would be easier to make mistakes than vented. It also doesn't factor in that the roof lifespan is already drastically reduced from sun and storms.

Basically yes. I'm not a builder but I am a cabinet maker who also owns a ranch in the coastal south, with vented attic and vented crawl space. House is fine after 30 years. Leaky old duct in the crawlspace has caused some problems but not nearly what they warn you will happen.

You always want your attic vented for the exact reason you stated even in the south. Ive never worked on a house that didn’t have a some sort of attic ventilation. I don’t know what this guys talking about. Never seen one problem caused by attic being ventilated

Definitely vent in south just because of humidity. Its everywhere, seal it in and your screwed.

I’m from the south. When they seal crawlspaces here. You also have to install a whole home Dehumidifier.

@@JBra1382 So I assume that the sealed crawl space and attic are dehumidified separate from the living space?

Rob Gunther Yeah, us northerners need some better building practices also.

Not bad, good green screen. The physical transition to do the drawing is pretty goofy. Just a look down and move the hand into drawing position. No need to be dramatic and call attention to the move. Artist with blonde hair and glasses, painted nails was visible. Or could simply do the first transition as, “Jesse will draw this for us now...” then later, no reference to Jesse...”Let’s take a look at a drawing “ here it is sketched out” “let’s take a look” hey, even do a page curl video transition.

Even get's fancy with some nail polish! ;-)

put several turbines on your roof and make sure that there is plenty/enough intake air coming into the attic thru gable vents or vented soffits. With vented soffits you must make sure the air path is not covered with insulation , It's just like a car in the sun. With the windows rolled down a little bit it still gets very hot inside but with the windows rolled down all the way its much cooler inside.

You need to find better clients. The race to be bottom leaves everyone upset.

Talkin about Florida I see.

If All Home builders would follow correct proper building practices, home prices would climb, and home quality would as well. I refuse to build for contractors that want it cheap. I only will work for those that want it right.

How you can build it "wrong", is there any inspection? Here in Finland if the house dont pass all regulations it has to be fixed, and the inspector needs to approve every step done when he or she gives a green light on the house. Offtopic: Most of newly build houses which have problems, mainly mold, is because some idiots say that houses have to use less energy for heating because EU laws. They make new houses like plastic bags which lead problems caused by lack of ventilation. In Finland temperature diffrence in house air and outside can be easily 50 c or 120 f so ventilation must be really good.

tumiiiiii Wow, that's cold. What are the roof/wall R-values and window U-values used? I'd imagine ducted ventilation is required with those infiltration temperatures.

You mean this guy, kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gspoo9162pqZdmw.html, who's saying you should always vent the roof even if you have exterior insulation on it.

Joseph, Thanks for your comments and insights Only observation I would like to add is that when it comes time to make repairs, crawl spaces come in very handy. If moisture sealed properly and conditioned IMO, a crawl space or basement is the way to go

Well you ain't lying lol

Pedro Meza That’s why you should never buy cookie cutter houses. Many companies build housing divisions here if Florida and the houses all look the same. They have all kinds of flaws and Yankees pay three times their worth for them. Absolutely stupid.

Yup... “cawse I been doing it that way fer years,)

+1. Flexible duct is a sign of mental weakness. Do hard piping or go home.

@@parv888 hard pipe causes rust and more expensive. Flexible duct ran correctly is far more efficient, less time consuming, and cost less. Nobody runs hard pipe on residential applications after that trunk line anymore

that is a known practice as long as the bottom and top are open. the only problem is if a leak occurs it is hard to find without tearing the sheet off.

I plan on doing this after installing a new metal roof. I have a gable 11/12 pitch roof...& the 2nd floor is always hot during the summer. May I ask what type of sheet would you use? I was thinking of a aluminum on both sides of foam type-sheet.

Yeah, it's probably sucking air conditioned air from your house into the attic. Check out Matt's video about solar attic fans, not a good idea.

John Logiudice no John. What causes problems with Radon is having un-skinned hotdogs in the fridge.

Radon craves the skin of the dog!

The shingles are only getting heat from the sun with insulation on the ceiling of the attic so they last as long as they should. I live in Austin where Matt lives also and our code says venting the crawlspace must be done so I don't understand his thinking. My dog liked to lay under the skirting vent because of the cool air blowing from it!

I believe he means an attic fan is not as effective as insulating the roof itself. Fans always work better than no fans.

They work by sucking cold air out of the conditioned space into the attic

a board at the end of the joists stops the insulation from going out over the soffit vents and blocking them. I don't think the sheeting should go all the way down to the insulation though. I think it would pull more heat out from the interior of the attic with the bottom open a little although the heat rising in the interior might be enough

Ha! Subtle joke but you caught it. Don’t tell anyone but I can’t draw!

i noticed that too. lol

and become left-handed!

Lol!