Q. I am hoping you may be able to help me with an electrical issue in my home, which was built in 1968. It started with the outside lights, which went out intermittently (seemingly every time it rained), and then for good. It’s also the circuit for the front hallway, so the hallway lights and outlets are dead. Now, another room (a renovated garage we turned into a bedroom 20 years ago) has the same issue. The lights flicker, then all the outlets stop working in the room. The electric heat in the room and overhead light work. I’ve spoken to two electricians, and they said it can be difficult, and expensive, to ascertain the cause. Any suggestions?

KATHLEEN SEBRING, Norfolk

A. You need to have an electrician investigate this ASAP. I don’t have enough information, but it sounds as if water is getting in somewhere and causing a poor connection. The feed to the outside light may have been added from the hall circuit, which is probably why they are both affected.

The house is nearly 50 years old. If you have a service entrance cable (often inside a conduit) running down an exterior wall and entering the meter box on the outside of the house, water could be getting into the conduit or under the cable’s sheathing. From there it can travel into the meter box and even into the circuit breaker box inside the house. This would be an electric company replacement and repair. Essentially, the electric company is responsible for your setup from the pole to the meter box, but that doesn’t mean an electrician can’t troubleshoot.

Check to see whether the power lines coming from the electric pole to your cable or conduit have a “drip loop.’’ Without one, water can get into the conduit or the cable.

Water could also be getting in where the cable enters the meter box. Check the putty, called “duck seal,’’ at the wire-to-box connection to see whether it’s intact.If water is getting into the meter box, it might be pooling at the bottom if the knockout, a prestamped opening, hasn’t been removed. An electrician should remove the knockout and drain the water. Don’t do this yourself!

More thoughts: Does the circuit breaker trip? It could be a loose connection, corrosion, or a bad breaker. Again, I’d call a good electrician to diagnose the problem for you and repair it.

Q. My house is 22 years old. I have roofline drip-edge soffit venting and a ridge vent along the top. Once the gutters are filled with snow and ice, the drip-edge vents are blocked, preventing airflow. We had minimal ice dam issues compared with others last year, because I kept up with clearing the roofline with a snow rake. I am trying to be proactive and want to increase the airflow in my attic.

My plan is to install vents under the soffit. Which is better, the 16-by-4-inch vents placed at both ends and in the middle along the underside of the soffit or round ones (I’m thinking 2 inches or 2.5 inches) placed on the underside of every bay?

ED VOZZELLA

A. Drip edge, or hicks, venting is rendered useless once covered by snow and ice. Your plan is excellent. A better one is to replace the entire soffit and use a continuous venting strip.

Ice dams are a heat loss and insulation issue, however. Proper ventilation will help mitigate the situation but will not cure what is the substantive source of the problem. Air sealing and insulation combined with proper attic ventilation will fix your ice dam issue.

Rob Robillard is a general contractor, carpenter, editor of AConcordCarpenter.com, and principal of a carpentry and renovation business. Send your questions to homerepair@globe.com or tweet them to @globeaddress or @robertrobillard.