Hello, I’ve really enjoyed your site this winter while researching ice dam fixes and then consequently many other building designs and fixes.

I live in northwest Montana in an old house framed with 2×4’s in a smaller house with an attic that’s been built out. Our house has a valley on the east and on the west side, we have knee walls upstairs. We are going to get our roof redone this summer with snow and ice shield to the ridgetop.

We’ve had ice dams in the past but then recently had insulation added to the attic space and this winter ended up with water coming through into the attic and down into the house, our roof is older and has no snow and ice shield. We also had two solar attic fans installed a couple years ago and this winter realized they don’t function well enough. Our gable ends are closed off behind attic bedroom walls so gable vents aren’t an option and we put up heat tape this winter and had electric fans installed once the ice dam problem reared its ugly head.

Also our ridgecap vent doesn’t vent because our attic is finished so we don’t have airflow between two attic spaces.

I’m writing to ask if you have any other ideas other than the new roof with an electric fan running near the top of the roof deck and near the valleys (where the problems began). After reading your articles I see the flaws in the design of our old house but it’s what we have and unfortunately we can’t afford a complete remodel. We’ve also heard about cold roofs with another roof being added on top of the existing roof and also cold roofs with rigid insulation baffles placed beneath the sheeting, again I’m sure the costs will start adding up quickly.

Anyways any advice or input is greatly appreciated, thanks for such an informative site.