Hamilton Audio wrote:
I've got a pathetically short little vent on the roof of my house that the
upstairs bathroom fan is attached to. The house also has a very shallow
pitch, so it collects a lot of snow rather than shedding it. It only takes
3 or 4 inches of snow cover to completely submerge the vent - this means its
melting snow - which caused an ice dam and water to back up last year (our
first year in the house).

so this year, i'm playing safe - have a ladder and roof rake at the ready on
the deck so that if it snows any significant amount, I can clear an area
around the vent so it doesn't cause another ice dam.

problem - my wife doesn't listen. on a few occaisions now we'd had notable
snowfall - and yet she still used the fan in the morning. yes - I now have
a buildup of ice downstream from the vent (which is about 4 feet from the
eave of the house). there is a bare spot of about 12" round from her using
it again this morning!! I'm now worried if we go much further with it,
we'll for sure have another ice dam...

1. other than expensive and clumsy electric wire solutions, what can I use
to perform a 1-time thawing of this ice buildup - just so it doesn't allow
an ice dam to form? I was thinking about a chemical ice melter. I've seen
them recommend it for roofs before....

2. there is such a thing as a much taller bathroom vent, right? what is a
typical charge for a roofer to come in and replace the crappy small one with
one of substantially more height? (I'd need one about 14" tall if possible)
I'm looking for a ballpark so the roofer doesn't try and rip me off.

3. since the situation is much "after the fact", installing de-icing cables
will be a pain, if not impossible. any other solutions to opening up the
area right in front of the vent....in case wifey forgets /yet again/ ?

thanks for all the insight...

b



Yep you screwed up, waited till winter. The solution is to
just extend the pipe. Probably the cap just sits on top of
the pipe (maybe a screw or two), so you can remove it, add
an extension, and put it back on. You don't need more than
a 12" extension. Even if the cap is part of the pipe, it
wouldn't be hard to cut it off, put anew pipe over it screw
it together and put a cap on that. Just don't fall off the
roof or it will cost you a bundle.

OTOH. Turn the power off to the bathroom at the main panel.
take the plate off the fan switch, pull the switch out,
remove a wire and put a screw cap on it, put the switch back
in the box and the plate on. When the wife says it doesn't
work, just say Darn, will have to fix that in the spring.

If your wife really just forgets and isn't openly opposed to
not using the fan, then just put tape over the switch in the
off position.