Common causes of chimney and vent pipe damage from sliding snow and ice include:

No Snow Guard Protection:

The freeze-thaw cycle of snow and ice that occurs on a metal roof can affect your chimney after winter precipitation occurs. When the weather warms up, the snow and ice will melt and slide off the roof. If there are no snow diverters around the chimneys or vent pipes, the velocity of the moving snow and ice will destroy the stove and stack pipes.

Snow and Ice Build Up:

One of the biggest things to watch out for during snowstorms is ice buildup that may accumulate and push on your stove and plumbing vent pipes. When too much snow and ice form around your chimney or stack pipe, it will induce a snow load that the pipe was never intended to receive. The oversight of not installing a snow termination device can be a costly mistake. The VentSaver products add support to the chimney or plumbing vent pipe while providing a snow diverter fin as a means of splitting up the snow and ice when it starts moving.

Only Installing a Couple of Individual Snow Guards Above the Pipe:

Snow guards were never designed to receive impact from winter precipitation sliding off a metal roof. Snow stops are only intended to hold the snow and ice on a roof until it can safely melt or slide off in small pieces. In theory, it seems like individual snow guards could possibly be the right solution for protecting plumbing vents and stovepipes. Trust me, when I say that this is the number one call back, when our customer chose to take this approach to vent pipe protection. The only way a snow guard system will work is if snow guards are installed over the entire roof, so the snow and ice does not move to begin with.

Using Snow Diverter Products That Do Not Add Support to The Chimney

The key feature of the VentSaver stove pipe protectors is that they add support to the pipe. It is especially important to support the pipe because the snow and ice can push against it when the sun finally shines and melts the snow. While snow diverters may help divert the snow and ice around the pipe, they will not offer the support that is necessary to keep the pipe from bending over under heavy snow loads. The VentSaver products have a cable that gets wrapped around the pipe and anchored to slicing fin, which is bolted to a structural support under the roof.

To protect your chimney from sliding snow, you can use a few different methods:

Strategic Chimney Placement:

On new construction, locating the chimney as high up on the roof as possible can help minimize the amount of snow that can accumulate above it. This could eliminate the need for chimney snow guards or diverters.

Snow Diverters:

These devices are typically made from folded stainless or galvanized sheet metal and are usually shaped like a triangle. The pointed outline of this vent snow guard is designed to divert and deflect the snow and ice around a pipe that protrudes from a roof. They can act like a mini roof cricket for any small pipe or outlet that extends up and out of the main roof platform. We emphasize small pipes! These devices are typically not intended for taller chimneys or pipes because they do not provide any kind of reinforcement to prevent the pipe from being pushed over by heavy snow. When installed in front of smaller, shorter pipes, they can effectively direct the precipitation away from and around the pipe you are trying to protect. Some disadvantages of these products include their unsightliness, high cost, and lack of tip over support for the pipe. Also, the installation may necessitate numerous roof penetrations, which can increase the likelihood of a leak. Standing seam roofing systems are designed to expand and contract in response to temperature changes, so the folded metal snow diverter products should never be screwed down to the roof. The VentSaver products can include an optional plate that can be mounted using standing seam clamps for a roof penetration-free installation.

Roof Cricket:

A roof cricket is a hand-built structure, usually out of wood or metal, that is designed to direct sliding snow and ice to go around the high side of a large penetration, such as a chimney stove pipe or plumbing roof vent, on slick, glossy coated, metal roofs.

VentSavers:

These are devices that save your chimney from damage by adding support while cutting the sliding snow like a knife through butter. They are made from aircraft aluminum with stainless steel hardware and can be used as reinforcement for the pipe if just installed on its own. The size and strength of the snow splitter can be adjusted based on the roof pitch, and chimney size. There are three sizes of VentSavers to fit most applications. This can be used on screw-down exposed fastener panels and concealed fastener standing-seam metal roofing with the optional aluminum mounting plate.

The VentSaver EZ

The smaller of the three models, the VentSaver EZ, comes standard in a mill finish and stands between nine to twelve inches above the roof. This product is usually more than adequate for most small plumbing stack pipes.

The VentSaver HD

This is the medium sized vent and chimney snow guard version that is suitable for larger plumbing vent pipes and smaller, shorter stove pipes. The VentSaver HD stands approximately 14 inches above the roof panel and has a wing kit that has a 14" wingspan. There is a height extender option that will add protection up to 25" off the roof panel. The VentSaver HD and height extender is powder coated from the factory to add an extra layer of protection.

The VentSaver Extreme

This is our premier vent pipe and chimney snow guard product and the largest of the three models. The VentSaver comes with two mounting bases, which offer a total of twelve mounting fasteners. It features a massive 21-inch wingspan and is suitable for larger stove pipe chimneys and vent pipes. Like the VentSaver HD, the standing profile of the VentSaver Extreme is 14 inches, and there is an optional height extender that can add another 18 inches for a total of 32" of snow slide protection! There is nothing else that even comes close to the protection that the VentSaver Extreme snow guard product provides on a metal roof.

Remember, it's important to consult with a professional to ensure that all vent snow guard devices are installed correctly and are suitable for your specific roof and chimney configuration.

Protecting Chimneys and Vent Pipes from Snow Conclusion:

Without snow splitting VentSaver product, your chimney is at risk of snow damage from sliding snow. Sliding snow can cause serious damage, even to the point of repair. The VentSaver snow splitter is a snow break that cuts the sliding snow like a knife, saving your chimney from damage.