Part of the roof replacement was deciding what to do with the roof vents. In addition to the usual things projecting through the roof, such as a chimney and sewer vent pipes, we also have vents for the fruit and vegetable dryer and the kitchen stove that are original to our 85 year-old house.

The fruit and vegetable dryer is a cabinet built into the kitchen that has a vent in the floor and a vent to the roof to circulate the air. The shelves in the cabinet were made with open wood slats to allow for air flow. In the pre-refrigeration era, this cabinet was used to dry and preserve fresh fruits and vegetables.

These two vents appeared to be structurally sound, but were severely rusted and had a thick buildup of roofing tar all around the base. The tar was so old, I wasn’t sure we could remove it without damaging the underlying metal. But by soaking it with turpentine, the tar softened enough that we were able to scrape most of it off. The orbital sander removed the rest of the tar and the majority of the rust.

We used a Rust-Oleum primer made especially for application over rust, then painted the cap and base brown to match the roof shingles. The body of the vent is painted the same teal as the house.

Check out this before-and-after comparison.