What do ridge vents look like, and what should images of ridge vents show?
Short answer. From the street, a shingle-over ridge vent looks like a slightly raised, continuous cap along the peak with a small shadow line under its edges, while an older exposed aluminum ridge vent looks like a metal strip with louvers along the ridge. From inside the attic, a working ridge vent shows a narrow line of daylight running along the peak.
From the street
- Shingle-over vent: the ridge looks a bit thicker or taller than a plain cap row, with cap shingles on top. Many people never notice it.
- Exposed aluminum vent: a visible metal ridge with louvered sides, common on homes built a few decades ago.
- No ridge vent: a flat, low cap row hugging the ridge, often with box vents or a turbine visible on the slopes instead.
- Metal roof vented ridge: a metal ridge cap with closure strips visible at the panel ribs.
Up close on the roof
Looking along the edge of the cap, you can see the vent's side openings or filter mesh, the external baffle along the bottom edge, and end plugs where the vent stops short of the gable. Crushed sections, gaps between caps, or missing end plugs are worth photographing.
From the attic
Look up at the peak on a sunny day. A ridge vent with an open slot shows a thin strip of daylight on each side of the ridge board or truss tops. No light usually means no slot, a slot covered by underlayment, or no vent at all.
Taking useful photos
- From the ground with a zoom lens, along the length of the ridge.
- From a second story window if it overlooks a lower roof.
- From the attic, at the peak and at both ends.
- Avoid walking a steep roof just to take pictures.
For a side by side comparison of vent types, see ridge vent vs box vents and roof anatomy explained.