Finishing Cabin Walls - What Do I Do With the Gable Vents?

Question

I am going to be insulating the inside of my cabin and putting up t&g to finish off the interior. (It's just been studs and the outside sheathing until now.) Essentially, I want to winterize it.

I have louvre vents up near the peak of the roof on each gable end - What should I do with them? Doesn't seem right to winterize a cabin and leave the eave vents open to the outside. Especially considering they're up top and would let heat out.

This sort of situation -

http://www.lancasterbarns.com/acatalog/c...

Advice? Thoughts?

Answer 1

You should replace the vents with siding or whatever is currently on the exterior and interior walls to cover the area where the vents are.  The reason for the vents was to allow air into the attic area to prevent condensation.  Now that you are finishing off the inside with T & G, you no longer need the vents.

Answer 2

loose the vents....close in the holes...they r useless.....

lic. gen. contractor

Answer 3

You could probably just cover over the inside of the vents with plastic sheet and then run the T&G paneling over the surface.  Obviously the R-value of a covered vent would be lower than that of an insulated stud wall, but my guess is that it won't hurt you too much, and it's a lot easier than removing the vent entirely and patching the outside wall.

In an unheated attic or in an uninsulated building without a ceiling structure they'd make sense, but once you finish off the room, they're a liability.