This past winter was quite hard on our roofs. Both our home and garage had pipes damaged or even wiped out by the snow diverters that were supposed to protect them. Those snow diverters ended up crumpled and on the ground. In one case, a diverter went so unwillingly that it tore our a part of the metal roof just above my office window. Aside from one of the pipes and the diverters, I was not aware of the extent of the damage until we were finally able to get a roof repair company over. The pictures they took were concerning. In several cases, it was clear that the damage would not have happened if the previous owners had used licensed workers to install the vents.
Thankfully, these roofers were able to make repairs to the house roof quickly with little difficulty. Unfortunately, the garage roof was a different issue. Because the damaged exhaust vent led directly to our garage's gas heater, the roofers were not licensed or insured to make those repairs. Thus, I had to get ahold of a heater technician to see what he could do. Ideally, we wanted the heater to have its exhaust go out the back wall rather than up through the roof.
The heater technician gave me more bad news. Likely from water coming down through the hole left by the broken exhaust pipe, our heater had several cracked elements and was no longer safe to use. The good news was that the technician said that a new heater could be installed that could vent through the wall. Thus, we removed the exhaust pipe, and I had the roofers cover its hole entirely as part of the garage roof repair.
Today, the heater technician returned and installed the heater. It was then that we discovered that the exhaust could not go out through the back wall because it was too close to a window. Instead, he had to put it out the side wall ... so that the exhaust pipe would be in the direct line of attack from snow falling off the roof. I requested that he put in an elbow and have the pipe follow the wall out the back. He did so only under my insistence as he is concerned that the pipe could have condensation freeze up at the joint and have ice slowly block the exhaust.
We will have to keep an eye on it this winter.
Thankfully, these roofers were able to make repairs to the house roof quickly with little difficulty. Unfortunately, the garage roof was a different issue. Because the damaged exhaust vent led directly to our garage's gas heater, the roofers were not licensed or insured to make those repairs. Thus, I had to get ahold of a heater technician to see what he could do. Ideally, we wanted the heater to have its exhaust go out the back wall rather than up through the roof.
The heater technician gave me more bad news. Likely from water coming down through the hole left by the broken exhaust pipe, our heater had several cracked elements and was no longer safe to use. The good news was that the technician said that a new heater could be installed that could vent through the wall. Thus, we removed the exhaust pipe, and I had the roofers cover its hole entirely as part of the garage roof repair.
Today, the heater technician returned and installed the heater. It was then that we discovered that the exhaust could not go out through the back wall because it was too close to a window. Instead, he had to put it out the side wall ... so that the exhaust pipe would be in the direct line of attack from snow falling off the roof. I requested that he put in an elbow and have the pipe follow the wall out the back. He did so only under my insistence as he is concerned that the pipe could have condensation freeze up at the joint and have ice slowly block the exhaust.
We will have to keep an eye on it this winter.
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