Notching trusses always gives me the heebie-jeebies too, but sometimes you’re just stuck between a rafter and a hard place. I’ve seen more than one “creative” attic fan install where someone took a Sawzall to a truss and then tried to hide the evidence with a metal plate and a prayer. In my own house, I chickened out and shifted the fan over a few inches, which meant it wasn’t perfectly centered, but at least I could sleep at night without worrying about the roof caving in during the next Texas thunderstorm.
About those metal plates—mixed bag, honestly. I’ve seen them hold up fine for years, but I’ve also seen a couple start to flex or even squeak when the attic heats up. I guess it depends on how much you take out and how beefy the plate is. I did a job last summer where the homeowner insisted on notching, and we doubled up the plates, but I still cringe every time I drive by their house.
Eco caulks in Texas...man, don’t get me started. I tried one of those “green” tubes on a ridge vent a while back, and it basically melted into goo by August. I stick with the old-school stuff now, even if it smells like a tire fire for a day or two. Have you found anything that actually survives the heat? I’d love to stop feeling guilty about my carbon footprint, but I also don’t want water pouring in every time it rains sideways.
Curious—did you have any weird attic layout issues that forced your hand, or was it just a matter of “this is the only spot that makes sense”? Sometimes I feel like attics are designed specifically to make fan installs as awkward as possible.
Man, I hear you on the attic fan placement. When I put mine in, I thought I’d just pop it right in the middle—nope. Ended up crawling around like a raccoon, dodging HVAC lines and what felt like a million wires. Had to settle for “close enough” because the only other option was hacking into a truss, and I’ve seen too many horror stories after storms. I’ll take a slightly off-center fan over a saggy roof any day.
And those eco caulks? Tried one last year, and by July it looked like melted cheese. Back to the stinky stuff for me. Texas heat just laughs at anything “green.”
I ran into the same mess with placement—thought it’d be a quick job, but the ductwork and old knob-and-tube wiring turned it into a puzzle. Ended up shifting mine closer to the gable than I wanted. As for caulk, I tried one of those “eco” tubes too. Looked fine until August, then just peeled right off in strips. Not worth the hassle in southern humidity.