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CertainTeed Ridge Vent Installation: The Torrance Owner’s Guide
We stock and install CertainTeed ridge vent systems throughout Torrance, with most complete ridge vent replacements running between $850 and $1,400 installed, depending on ridge length and access. Most Torrance homeowners discover their ridge vent has failed the hard way: a warm spot on the ceiling, a musty smell in the attic, or water staining along the crown of the roof after a winter rain. The ridge vent is the exhaust side of your roof’s ventilation system, and when it fails, heat and moisture have nowhere to go.
If you’ve got a CertainTeed roof with a ridge vent that isn’t doing its job, this page covers exactly what we see in Torrance, what it costs to fix, and how the swap is done. We’re Mercer Roofing Co Torrance, an independent roofing company. We install CertainTeed ridge vents but we’re not affiliated with CertainTeed.
Which CertainTeed Models This Applies To
CertainTeed makes three ridge vent lines you’ll find on Torrance roofs: the ShingleVent II, the Northgate, and the Mountain Ridge. ShingleVent II is the workhorse most common in South Bay tract homes. It’s a 4-foot black plastic section with an external baffle and a fabric filter. Northgate is the premium line, slightly wider at 11.5 inches and rated for 18 square inches of net free area per linear foot. Mountain Ridge is the heavy-duty option for steep pitches.
The compatibility gotcha we run into regularly: CertainTeed ridge vents are designed to sit flush with CertainTeed’s own shingle profile, but they’ll happily vent any shingle roof as long as the pitch is between 3:12 and 16:12. If you’re mixing a CertainTeed vent with GAF or Owens Corning shingles, it works fine functionally, but the reveal line can sit a hair different. When in doubt, measure the ridge opening. ShingleVent II needs a 2-inch gap along the ridge. If the gap is narrower, airflow drops fast.
On the OEM versus aftermarket question: we prefer OEM CertainTeed ridge vent on CertainTeed roofs. The fastener boss placement matches the shingle reveal, and the warranty path is cleaner. Quality aftermarket equivalents from Lamar and Air Vent do the job, but the plastic is slightly thinner and the baffle spacing differs. You’re usually saving $2 to $3 per linear foot. We’ll quote both and let you decide.
Styles & brands we work with
Signs Your CertainTeed Ridge Vent Installation Is Failing
- Water staining along the ridge or closet ceilings beneath it. The most common culprit is a failed end cap or a section of vent that’s lifted at the nails. Moisture gets pushed under the shingle cap by wind and runs inward.
- Heat building up upstairs even with the AC running. If the ridge vent’s fabric filter is clogged with dust, salt haze, or old paint overspray, airflow drops to nearly zero. We see this a lot on older Torrance homes near the refineries.
- Shingle cap lifting along the ridge line. This is often nail fatigue. The original installer used short nails that backed out over years of thermal cycling. The vent flexes, the nails pop, and the cap shingles catch the wind.
- Visible cracks or splits in the black plastic vent sections. Southern California sun is brutal on polyethylene. Even UV-stabilized ridge vents get brittle after 15 to 18 years on a full-sun exposure.
- Bird or rodent activity inside the attic near the ridge. A cracked ridge vent or missing end cap is a wide-open door for starlings and roof rats. In Torrance, we’ve pulled entire nests out of ridge vent channels.
Replacement Cost & What’s Included
For Torrance homes, a full CertainTeed ridge vent replacement typically runs $850 to $1,400 installed. That’s parts, labor, and haul-away. The main drivers are ridge length and roof access. A 30-foot ridge on a single-story ranch sits at the low end. A 50-foot ridge on a two-story with a tile roof transition runs higher.
Here’s how the pricing breaks down:
- CertainTeed ShingleVent II vent sections: $8 to $12 per 4-foot piece
- End caps, connectors, and fasteners: $30 to $60 total
- Shingle cap replacement (if existing cap is not reusable): $4 to $6 per linear foot
- Labor including removal of the old vent: $350 to $550
Every quote from Mercer Roofing Co Torrance is a written, line-item price before any work starts. The number we quote is the number on the invoice. And every ridge vent replacement includes our 365-Day Done Right Promise: if anything about the installation is not right within a year, we come back and make it right at no cost.
See the difference
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After
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AfterDIY or Call Us?
You can safely diagnose a ridge vent problem from the ground: look at the ridge line with binoculars, check for lifted cap shingles or visible plastic, and feel the upstairs ceiling for heat or staining. What you should not do is get onto the ridge and start pulling cap shingles. A ridge vent replacement means working at the highest point of the roof, straddling the ridge, and handling a nail gun. The fall risk is serious, and so is the risk of opening the ridge and leaving it exposed if you can’t finish the same day.
We’ve also seen homeowners install vent sections backward (baffle facing the wrong direction) or leave the fabric filter out entirely, which turns the vent into a rain catch. If you want to save money, do the diagnosis. Let us do the install. Call (424) 435-5428 and we’ll send a written estimate.
FAQs
A properly installed CertainTeed ridge vent lasts 15 to 20 years in Torrance’s climate, with full-sun exposures on the south and west faces aging fastest. The vent plastic often outlives the cap shingles, which is why we usually replace both at the same time.
Yes, if the failure is isolated to one end cap, one cracked section, or a few popped nails, a repair is often enough and will cost around $150 to $350. If the plastic is brittle across multiple sections, patchwork gets more expensive than a full replacement. Call (424) 435-5428 and we’ll give you an honest read.
Most single-family homes in Torrance are done in 4 to 6 hours, including removing the old vent, installing the new one, and replacing cap shingles. We typically finish the same day we start.
We keep ShingleVent II sections, end caps, and connectors in stock on our service vehicles, along with GAF and Owens Corning equivalents. If you have a Northgate or Mountain Ridge vent, we’ll confirm the model and have the exact sections on hand before we arrive.
Call Mercer Roofing Co Torrance for Your Ridge Vent Replacement
If your CertainTeed ridge vent is showing its age, we’ll send a background-checked, uniformed technician with a photo ID badge. You’ll get their name and photo before they arrive, a written price before any work starts, and the 365-Day Done Right Promise in writing. The roof is only doing its job when you never have to think about it. Call (424) 435-5428 for a free estimate.
Written by Grant Whitlock, Owner, Mercer Roofing Co Torrance at Mercer Roofing Co Torrance, serving Torrance and nearby areas.