Hello fellow inspectors, I am reaching out to see if any of you have seen these type of ridges installed on an asphalt shingle roof before. Initially they looked like vents to me, however they are covered in a cloth-like fabric material and I did not see any corresponding openings in the attic space to suggest ventilation. Not sure if they are designed for a specific practical purpose in mind or if it’s just an aesthetic addition. Any help would be certainly appreciated, thanks!
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Hello Aaron, welcome.
This is throwing me off as well for my initial reaction was ventilation. I am also interested in what others have to say. Let’s wait and see 
Do you have any corresponding attic photos to share?
I believe this is what you are seeing. Used mostly for homes without enough eave / soffit area to have vents.
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That does look like it, but You would need an opening in the sheathing for it to work no ???
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Correct. The few I have seen in my area are on colonial style homes and they are placed low toward the eave where it is difficult to see any opening from the attic. I could see some light coming in, though.
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Same here. And the OP’s subject roof is a perfect application of this vent along the transition to the lower low-slope roof which which apparently or likely has no ventilation intake. Also, I think the opening inside the attic can be easily overlooked because the opening may be less than one inch (though daylight would likely be visible).
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Yes - It’s called a mid-roof vent.
These are used where soffit vents are either impossible or impractical to install.
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Thank you everybody for your informative responses, this certainly helps me out! There is in fact no eave vents installed at this home, so the installation of mid-roof vents makes perfect sense.
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Yeah, they are vents and are becoming popular in my area (Oregon). I think they REALLY ugly and wouldn’t want to look at them but suppose function-wise they can be a good thing since soffits always get jammed up with insulation and paint/dust on the screens. I think I’ve heard a roofer refer to them as “eyebrow” vents.
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If that cloth is a permeable filter fabric, they’re definitely vents. Are you double sure there’s no narrow corresponding slot in the sheathing inside? During the day you’d likely see faint light coming through, and definitely be able to feel the air.
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Mid-roof vents are becoming popular here and there are configurations where they are the only effective way to vent the rafter space. My impression is that properly installed soffit vents provide better circulation in traditional attic spaces and are certainly better looking even if they need to be carefully painted.
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Eyebrow vents are being used more often in CA for home fire hardening. Vegetation next to the house can easily spread a fire into the attic through soffit vents.
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That is a attic fresh air intake. It is used to improve fresh air to the attic in locations where a soffit vent isn’t possible. I see it on older homes that do not have a soffit.
I may be wrong but this might be a IWUI code item. The Wildland Urban Interface Code requires ventilation that won’t pull flaming embers or sparks into the attic, hence the cloth. Were the soffits were sealed up and perhaps any fence against the house was metal instead of wood?
This is required where there is an undeveloped woodland area within a certain distance of the structure.
Or it could just be a vent because that low-profile looks cleaner than box vents.
Box vents are typically outtake near the ridge, though ridge vents are better in my opinion. The reason for the mid roof vent in this case is because there is no soffit (note the connecting low slope roof where the soffit would be).
The mid roof vent produces a nice continuous or evenly distributed intake. Nice design for this application.
Good info on the reason for the screen, thanks for that.
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they are certainly different types of vents and should not be confused as one is intake and one is exhaust…
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