I'm gettnig quotes for a new roof. The house has gutters, very small
soffits, and no soffit venting. One of the contractors is quoting
something called a SmartVent
(http://www.dciproducts.com/html/smartvent.htm). It is a flat vent
that installs under the shingles. It looks like an interesting system
but the house is on Cape Cod. The winters there are somewhat
mitigated by the ocean and snow doesn't hang around a long time
(despite the foot we got today) but I am still worried about ice dams.
The contractor says they install the vent further up on the roof, away
from any ice dam area but that concerns me too. I'd think it would
just get covered by snow and not work. Anyone have any experience with
this type of venting?

here's 52 pages of reading at:
http://www.buildingscience.com/resou...r_Renovate.pdf

Thanks for the reference, it is interesting reading, but, it doesn't
help at all with the above question. Still looking to see if anyone
has information about or experience with the SmartVent.

George

In article .com,
says...

I'm gettnig quotes for a new roof. The house has gutters, very small
soffits, and no soffit venting. One of the contractors is quoting
something called a SmartVent
(http://www.dciproducts.com/html/smartvent.htm). It is a flat vent
that installs under the shingles. It looks like an interesting system
but the house is on Cape Cod. The winters there are somewhat
mitigated by the ocean and snow doesn't hang around a long time
(despite the foot we got today) but I am still worried about ice dams.
The contractor says they install the vent further up on the roof, away
from any ice dam area but that concerns me too. I'd think it would
just get covered by snow and not work. Anyone have any experience with
this type of venting?



Well they seem to be no worse than ridge vents, which get completely covered
with snow and take several days before they re-appear. You don't need
ventilation every single day. I would worry about the ice dams, but if they
move them up a few feet it should be OK, although somewhat less effective,
perhaps.

Dennis