How To Seal Off Roof Vents

How to seal a plumbing vent pipe on the roof.

How to seal off roof vents.

It doesn t matter if these exhaust vents are ridge vents gable vents roof vents or some combination. Plumbing vent pipes on house roofs are covered with a metal square of flashing and sealed with silicone caulking. Just nail a board over the opening from the inside. This old house general contractor tom silva shows how to create a watertight seal around a vent pipe.

Position a ladder carefully against the edge of the roof securing the legs from wobbling or the ladder from folding. If windblown rain or snow is frequently entering the gable vents close them. On your roof seal off openings such as vent pipes. Cut the old caulk line.

There are many possible parts of the roof potentially leaking but one of the most common ones is the area around the roof vent. Caulk all exterior wall cracks use a heavy grade of steel wool copper mesh or metal scouring pads to fill cracks and holes in exterior walls. The flashing of the vent pipes. Pull back on the plunger of the gun and place a tube of caulk.

To properly seal around air vents apply caulk or expanding foam between the ducting and the sheetrock. Next apply weather stripping around the underside of the vent cover. The least expensive method to seal the vent opening is to remove the vent cover from the ceiling cut a piece of cardboard to fit inside the vent cover tape the cardboard in place with polyurethane tape and reinstall the vent cover. Don t worry about an airtight seal.

The goal is to prevent conditioned air from escaping or unconditioned air from entering the thermal envelope. Fix a leaky roof vent pipe with a oatey rubber gasket. How to seal around roof vents 1. Load the caulking gun to have it ready when needed.