Attic Vents for Dummies (HSW Week 3)

roof vent with flashing

It's only the third day into HowStuffWorks week, but the staffers are already complaining about the number of page clicks that site requires for you to read an entire article. They've also noticed that many of the shorter (and more stupidified) articles seem to be credited to "contributors" or "editors" instead of individuals. That being said, it's still pretty easy to come across crud on the website – crud like "How do I install attic vents?"; a topic that Vivien Bullen attempted to address for HowStuffWorks.com.

Bullen's solution to complete ignorance of the topic – from reading her post, it seems that she's not even sure what an attic vent is – was to find something written by a supposed pro and reword it. That's pretty much what she did (her reference at DoItYourself.com is no longer available, but we read it with the Wayback Machine at archive.org). That's how we figured out that Vivien didn't know enough about attics, vents, or construction to get her post right. Try these instructions on for size:

• "For a gable vent, you start by removing the siding and sheathing in your determined area with a circular saw, avoiding any unnecessary contact to the gable studs." – "Determined area"? "Gable studs"?
• "Make sure you play [sic] close attention to the insulation, which should leave a gap between itself and the vent." – Really? the insulation can act on its own?
• "When working with a roofline or turbine vent... Slip the top end of the flashing above the shingles directly over your hole allowing it to lap over the area below the hole." – Wow: this idiot really has no idea what flashing is for! [Hint: the top edge of the flashing must be slipped under the shingles above the hole]. 
• "If you're installing a ridge vent... Cut the sheathing out... and place your vent in your hole, over the peak. " – In the hole? Is this moron kidding? You install a ridge vent over the hole you cut along the ridgeline; that way water doesn't penetrate.

No! Bullen, obviously nothing more than a penny-grubbing freelancer, didn't know jack about attic vents, but she decided she could write about it anyway. In a clumsy attempt to reword the DoItYourself.com content from which she cribbed, Vivien managed to obscure the real instructions, get some of them completely backward, and in general make a mess out of her post. What's worse, however, is that any poor web-surfer who thinks our Dumbass of the Day managed to publish some useful information is going to be disappointed, indeed.

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