Ventilation to use before repainting siding

One person that gave a quote said they were interested in using vents that you put along the top row of the cedar siding without taking anything off. Does anyone know what this might be? I have tried to research online and found nothing. This person did not win the bid as he was about $5000 more than several others. I would still like to look into doing the ventilation myself due to paint that bubbles on the back of our house.

 

Welcome to the forums! Not sure what he would be venting? For a vent to work, air has to come in and go out. Do you have adequate soffit venting as well as ridge venting? This would help take alot of the heated air away.

 

Could you provide more info on the bubbling paint?

Paint brand and type [oil or latex]
Age of house - does it have a vapor barrier over the insulation.
Is the back of the house shady? sunny? trees?

 

I don't know what brand of paint the previous owner used. It is latex based and not oil. The back of the house is directly in the sun. From what I have seen and heard the bubbling is from water trying to get out. It is an older house constructed in the 70's. There is not a vapor barrier.

I called the painter that gave told me about the vents. He called them roof vents and that I would find them at Home Depot in the roofing section. They are 3 inches in diameter and he planned to put them on the top row of the siding.

We just had a new roof put on last summer and there is ridge venting on our roof. We also have a fan in the attic to help push air out when it is really hot.

Has anyone heard of this being done to help deal with possible water trying to escape?

 

Like chandler said, for a vent to work it has to have a corresponding inlet. Your roof vents work by the cooler air entering thru the soffit vents [hot air rises] and exitting thru the roof [or gable] vents. For this to work on a wall, air would have to enter somewhere before any effectual amount will come out the vents. Since the wall cavity is filled with insulation, I don't see how any air [carring moisture] would pass thru the vents.

Generally when there is a poor or nonexisting vapor barrier it is best to use latex primer and paint. Latex doesn't seal as well = moisture has a better chance of passing thru it..... but cedar can be problematic when not primed with oil base primer. The tannins can bleed thru the primer/paint discoloring the siding.

You might want to ask that contractor for references to jobs he has done this on and talk to the homeowners to get their take on it. Did it fix their moisture problems.