08/22/2026
Ever wonder why your upstairs is 15 degrees hotter than the rest of the house?
Last Tuesday we built what’s known in the trade as a “Michigan roof” — a raised ventilation deck. It’s standard practice across Michigan, and honestly, it should be standard here in Wisconsin too.
Here’s the problem it solves. A lot of older homes — especially story-and-a-halves, Cape Cods, and homes built with little to no eave overhang — have no way to ventilate the roof. There’s no soffit to pull air in, and often no real attic to vent. So heat and moisture get trapped right under the shingles with nowhere to go, except into the home.
A raised ventilation deck fixes that. After tear-off, we run sleepers up the rafters over the original decking and sheathe over the top of them. That creates a continuous air channel from a new intake at the eave straight up to the ridge vent. Cool air comes in low, hot air exhausts high, and the roof deck finally gets to breathe instead of radiating into the home.
What that means for the homeowner:
🔹 A cooler second story. That trapped heat isn’t sitting over your bedrooms anymore and radiating inward.
🔹 Longer roof life. Shingles cook from underneath when a deck runs hot. Ventilate it and you get the service life you paid for.
🔹 Less ice damming. A cold roof deck in January means less melt-and-refreeze at the eaves — a real problem in our winters.
🔹 Warranty protection. This one matters. Shingle manufacturers require proper intake and exhaust ventilation. No ventilation, no warranty. You can put a brand new roof on a home and have zero manufacturer coverage behind it. A lot of homeowners don’t find that out until they need it. Most roofers do not disclose this fact.
This isn’t a job most crews around here want to take on. They lack skills to do this properly. It doesn’t fall under easy. Twenty-seven years in this trade has taught me that the right way and the easy way are usually two different things.
If your upstairs is unbearable in the summer, or you’re getting ice dams every winter, ventilation is the culprit — and it can be solved when the roof gets replaced.
Give us a call. Happy to take a look.
📞 (920) 636-8418
📧 [email protected]
