LESLIE: Bruce in Nebraska’s got some leaky roof vents. What can we help you with?
BRUCE: Hey, I’ve got a problem with some roof vents in my house.
TOM: OK.
BRUCE: And in the wintertime the snow blows in them. (chuckling) And then it melts when it warms up.
TOM: OK.
BRUCE: I was wondering do you have a solution for that other than, I don’t know, stuffing newspaper in them or whatever or what? (Leslie chuckles)
TOM: What kind of roof vents do you have? Are they the big, square ones or are they ridge vents? What do you have?
BRUCE: No, they’re the square ones, you know, that you put up in your roof.
TOM: OK. You know, Bruce, when you have a lot of wind-driven snow like that there’s a special type of vent called a filter vent that has like a filter material in it that lets the air go in and out but it stops some of that snow from blowing in. And it’s sort of like a fiberglass filter material that sort of sits in the vent opening. Now, unfortunately I don’t know if this material is available in a retrofit situation where you have the existing vents. But I know that different vent manufacturers make filter vent type products. And I think one of them is CertainTeed. I think they make a filter vent product that has the matting in it so the snow stops blowing in.
You know, I’ve seen that happen many times; although, generally, it’s never added up to any type of damage. So it may just be an annoyance for you.
BRUCE: Yeah, that’s kind of annoying. You know it looks like your roof’s leaking in the house.
TOM: I’ve gone on the roofs in the middle of the winter and seen small snow piles inside the attic. (Leslie chuckles)
BRUCE: Yep, yep.
TOM: It’s kind of disturbing but it doesn’t really hurt that much, believe it or not.
BRUCE: Okey-doke. Well that was my question.
TOM: Alright, Bruce. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT. 888-666-3974.
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