# Smart Vent



## 4 seasons (Dec 31, 2009)

Has anyone else here used DCI Smartvent. I have used it solve a few different roofs with major ventilation issues. It seems to work pretty good. I have used it for roof maintenance/ repairs and also for a couple reroofs.


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## Interloc (Apr 6, 2009)

Yes i like.


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## blageurt (Dec 15, 2009)

I like it too ... It seems like an excellent product...


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

I am hesitant to try it and products like it. I fear it will create an opening int he roof for snow to back up into and wind and rain to blow into. I can not see how it works logically and I have extensively researched it. 

I'll probably start adding it to my offerings in 10 years LOL. I am not an early adopter, and know it's been around for awhile already... I just can't see how it doesn't cause more harm than good.


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## Ed the Roofer (Sep 15, 2008)

I absolutely love the product and have used it on over 50% of the jobs that we specify and do.

It pushes my price up, which has not helped me out one bit the past two years for sales, regardless of the finished roofing and ventilation results, but what good do superior specifications do if I don't get the sale for that job.

But, all in all, I highly recommend their product and have over 8 years of hands on experience installing it with zero complaints and problems, once you get used to it after on time.

Ed


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## 4 seasons (Dec 31, 2009)

I think it works great myself, I can't see any ice damn or certainly any water penetrating this. Especially if you use the right precautions. I always seal under the front side of the vent, which seals it to the drip edge. Then I take Ice and water and run that on the roof as if the vent wasn't even there. Then roof like normal.
Soffit vents don't always do the job. Especially if insulation was installed to tight making air passage impossible. In most cases, the vent can bypass that problem area. But not always. If there is an extended eave. 
It's also a good option if there was never any soffit vent at all. I don't use vented drip edge because I think the stuff is bogus, and it hardly does anything most of the time.


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## Roofsafe (Oct 29, 2008)

I have looked at smart vent and I have some issueswith it about the filter and the cardboard type make up of it. Filters are made to collect particulate matter, eventually it will plug up. I have also seen the card board type vents plug up, I have pictures of it, if any one wants I will post them, I also have a pic of the filter out of a SVII, it was plugged up. 
But how many HOs get their vents checked every year or have the filters cleaned? How many of you do the cleaning? 
I'm retired from roofing now because of physical problems, Knees, Ankles, Oh, yeah, I'm old too. But I have done a few things different than most to provide ventilation for homes, it's good for the roof and lowers utility bills, a good selling point.


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## The Roofing God (Oct 31, 2008)

I like it,used it on a few bldgs here in Upstate NY,WITH NO PROBLEMS,Definitely a good solution for areas with no soffit area


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## The Roofing God (Oct 31, 2008)

don`t see any clogging at all in this area,guess it depends on what the winds kicking around in your area


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## Ed the Roofer (Sep 15, 2008)

I can only say that the oldest Shingle Vent II that I went back on was 12 years old and clean as a whistle.

As for the Smart Vent, no problems reported for the past 8-9 years since I started using it.

Ed


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## Roofsafe (Oct 29, 2008)

This is a picture I took of a SVII filter after six years on the roof, this filter was typical of all the filters. It was on my roof and I wanted to check it out before I sold the building, from inside the attic it looked fine, rom the roof I couldn't really tell, so I took it off, this is what I found. I pulled the filters from the rest and put vents in without the filter.

http://www.roofingtalk.com/members/roofsafe-62/albums/roof-ventilation/199-100-2527.jpg
As for the smart vent, I have found the card board type vents plug up even without a filter, so, with the filter on the smart vent, how would you know if it was plugged up? you can't see inside the filter?


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## 4 seasons (Dec 31, 2009)

Roofsafe.... I could not open your leak. I am interested in what you found. Could you please re-post?


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## Roofsafe (Oct 29, 2008)

4 seasons, it works when I click on it, but here it is again. 
http://www.roofingtalk.com/members/roofsafe-62/albums/roof-ventilation/199-100-2527.jpg


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## Roofsafe (Oct 29, 2008)

Dust or any matter that is able to be picked up in the wind, including pollutants, in my opiniun is small enough to go between the fibers of the filters. Since the filters are made to allow air through to the inside those particles are small enough to be carried inside as well, bigger particles catch on the filter and collect, that is the job of the filter, to collect. 
The tube, created by the plastic cardboard material in smart vent and all the other similar vents all create static electricity from the warm moist air flowing through them, that creats a magnet for the particles being carried by the air. After a while that becomes an accumulation that builds to the point of a plug, the filter on the smart vent just hides what is being done inside the tubes, and no one is the wiser, what you can't see, doesn't mean it isn't there.


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## Interloc (Apr 6, 2009)

Its still not coming up Roofsafe,i am interested on what you found.


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## Roofsafe (Oct 29, 2008)

Lets try it this way then.
If you can't see it here let me know and I'll post it on the NRG forum for you.


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## Interloc (Apr 6, 2009)

nope.


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## tomstruble (Jan 19, 2009)

not working for me


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## Roofsafe (Oct 29, 2008)

Well, guys, you can try my profile and see if you can view my album, if not I know I can post pics on the National Roof Group Forum, it's a members only forum but it's a lot easier to post pics there than here. At least for me.


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## The Roofing God (Oct 31, 2008)

alright get rid of the spammer !!!!!!!!


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## Angle00 (Jun 29, 2010)

*A smart vent*

A smart vent should not have filters in it. The dust, dirt and pollen grains are likely to accumulate in the filters, thereby, choking it. One should always go for ventilators that are free from filters.


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## Grumpy (Oct 29, 2008)

I am super ultra excited about GAF's new fascia vent. I mean, we have built out many of these things throughout the years and the GAF fascia vent is just so much simpler saving 4 steps of labor. The vent is pricey at abotu $10 a foot but that's still 50% less than I'd have charged to build out the fascia with typical carpentry methods. Simpler, faster, neater and cheaper... Man that doesn't often happen. I am not usually a fan of GAF products but I have been saying for quite some time how necessary a product like this has been.


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## jimsonburg (Aug 4, 2010)

I too like DCI Smartvent. Smartvent may actually extend the life of your asphalt shingles because of the maximum intake it provides to an attic, thus a better breathing roof is a healthier roof.

You may also see a reduction in utility expenses. Smartvent keeps your attic cooler in the warm months and reduces the load needed to air-condition your home.


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## leif (Apr 8, 2011)

Roofsafe said:


> I have looked at smart vent and I have some issueswith it about the filter and the cardboard type make up of it. Filters are made to collect particulate matter, eventually it will plug up. I have also seen the card board type vents plug up, I have pictures of it, if any one wants I will post them, I also have a pic of the filter out of a SVII, it was plugged up.
> But how many HOs get their vents checked every year or have the filters cleaned? How many of you do the cleaning?
> I'm retired from roofing now because of physical problems, Knees, Ankles, Oh, yeah, I'm old too. But I have done a few things different than most to provide ventilation for homes, it's good for the roof and lowers utility bills, a good selling point.


I am in Alberta Canada with a bit of a dilemma concerning poor or no ventilation to a flat roof. Water running out of electrical boxes prompted a gutting of the drywall ceiling of one half of this duplex & replacing the roof (torch down membrane) new insulation & vapor barrier installed in 09. There were two turbines installed 2/3 of the way down the roof as well as one new gooseneck added near the ridge, they now total (3) the old wooden soffits had a 8 inch wide slot through out cut into them then covered with new aluminum soffit. but there are now water spots showing in th drywall. I have been called in to counsult, everyone involved claims to have done everything proper & to code. I am of the mind that it is still a ventilation problem with either no insulation stops in place to allow airflow through the soffits. I have had the roofing company involved in the original retofit suggest a lomanco attic ventilator series 2000 and adding new vents at the lower portion of the roof for it to draw from. Any thoughts


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## Roofsafe (Oct 29, 2008)

I've never been a fan of turbins, and I can't see them working on a flat roof, about the only thing I can see working on a flat roof would be power vents. I have seen water cause the damage you have described with pitched roofs, no air flow in the winter can do a lot of damage.
I've seen water stand on flat roofs that made me think that it looked like trying to ventilate under a lake, if you have turbins for intake and exhaust, how do you determine which one is which on a flat roof?


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## packet04 (Apr 21, 2011)

I haven’t used this Smartvent but based on what I’ve heard about it I think that it is a good product and surely not a waste of money to try. Perhaps, I will try it myself too.


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## Roofsafe (Oct 29, 2008)

Packet04, how often do you change the filter in a smart vent? or in any other vent?


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## chb70 (Jan 19, 2009)

I have used the DCI Smart Vent on a handful of jobs and have been happy with results.



Chicago Roofing


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## Everett (May 10, 2014)

Really didn't think it would work by the way it gets installed. Thought it would leak. But it works. And doesn't leak.


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## TalkandRoof (Jul 10, 2019)

*Smart Roof - Vent Holes in roof plywood / sheathing diaphragm*

Anywhere there is seismic and or roof wind loads this system should be reviewed by a licensed engineer. Theses holes defeat the wood sheathing of the plywood diaphragm to resist the seismic and wind forces to the resisting walls. The highest roof sheathing forces are at the roof to wall connection (edge nailing) conditions. Please read before making lots of vent holes in roof sheathing. 2015 IBC section 2305.1.1 and NDS (Wind and Seismic Provisions) Thank you


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