I hear you on the Nebraska weather—those freeze-thaw cycles are brutal on just about everything. I’ve managed a few properties with both felt and synthetic underlayments, and honestly, unless you’ve got a serious ventilation issue or a really low-slope roof, I haven’t seen a huge difference in day-to-day performance. The synthetics are lighter and easier for crews to install, but as far as moisture or heat inside? If your attic isn’t vented right, like you said, it’s kind of a moot point. I’d say if your old-school felt has held up for decades, there’s no harm sticking with it unless your roofer gives you a solid reason otherwise.
That chicken coop story cracks me up every time—hard to picture a big name like Tamko starting out with a bunch of hens for company. Nebraska weather really does put everything to the test, though. I’ve had roofs where the felt looked like it’d been through a war after just a couple winters, and others where it held up way longer than I expected.
I’m with you on the underlayment debate. I tried synthetic on a duplex last year because the crew swore it’d go faster and be less hassle. It was lighter, sure, but honestly, once the shingles were down, I couldn’t tell much difference from the old felt jobs. The only time I regretted not going synthetic was when we had a week of rain mid-project and the felt got soggy—synthetic would’ve handled that better.
Ventilation’s still the real headache. Had one attic that turned into a sauna every summer, and no underlayment in the world was gonna fix that mess. If your felt’s lasted this long, I’d say keep rolling with it unless you’re itching to try something new or your roofer’s got a good reason.
Ventilation’s still the real headache. Had one attic that turned into a sauna every summer, and no underlayment in the world was gonna fix that mess.
That’s exactly what I’m worried about with my place. The attic gets crazy hot, and I’m not convinced just swapping underlayment would help much either. Did you end up adding more vents or changing the insulation? I’ve read mixed things about ridge vents vs. powered fans, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. Curious what actually made a difference for you.
Honestly, I see a lot of folks jump to powered fans thinking they’ll solve everything, but they can actually pull conditioned air from your house if you’re not careful—makes your AC work harder. What’s worked best for most of my clients is a combo: solid soffit intake and a ridge vent for passive flow. If your insulation’s thin or patchy, that’s worth fixing too. Sometimes people overlook blocked soffit vents from old insulation—happens more than you’d think. Powered fans are kinda my last resort unless the roof design leaves no other option.
- Powered attic fans get a lot of hype, but honestly, I’ve seen more issues than solutions when folks install them without thinking through the whole system.
- If you don’t have enough soffit venting—or if it’s blocked by insulation—those fans can end up pulling cool air right out of your living space. Seen it spike energy bills more than once.
- Ridge vent + clear soffits is usually the best passive combo. It’s not flashy, but it works with how hot air naturally wants to rise and escape.
- Insulation is a big deal too. I’ve poked my head into attics where blown-in insulation completely covered the soffit vents... zero airflow. Easy fix, but often missed.
- Only time I’d say powered fans make sense is on weird rooflines or hip roofs where you just can’t get enough passive flow.
- Quick story: inspected a place last summer, homeowner swore the powered fan would “fix everything.” Instead, their upstairs was hotter and the AC ran non-stop. Pulled back some insulation and found every soffit vent clogged. Once we cleared those, things cooled off fast—fan wasn’t even needed.
Bottom line: more moving parts isn’t always better. Sometimes old-school passive works best if you set it up right.
