Off Topic: Ice Dam

[billski]

glad i'm not the only one with these issues! the frnt of my house faces north, there is a good 6" of ice built up...I have leave guards on the gutters so i'm assuming all the ice is on top of that and not in the gutter as well....i'd like to get it off...some water coming in...

You can't do much other than that sock method to get it off. Whacking at it can cause more damage. Wait and pray for a warm day (did I say that??). Get the snow above it off the roof asap, so there is nothing more to drain down to the gutter.

 

[Glenn]

How well do the tube socks work? Guess the success will be measured when we have a thaw/freeze cycle again.

It's good for creating a channel for the water to drain out of. But I have to keep an eye on it. If more snow falls on top of it...it can seal back up again. I'm hoping the sun today and tomorrow helps things along.

There's a friggin boatload of ice up there. It's rather shocking when you're on the ladder looking at it. I should try and get some pics.

 

[billski]

There's a friggin boatload of ice up there. It's rather shocking when you're on the ladder looking at it. I should try and get some pics.

I think a lot of people have ice buildups of 6 to 10 inches thick, I have about 6 inches at the worst place. I snow rake the roof daily now. The appraiser is coming back on Saturday.

 

[Glenn]

I bet you're right Bill. You can really see the icicles and ridge of ice sitting in the gutters when driving around.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

have to get a snorake, local hw store has some incoming...talke to my buddy whos a contaractor...said to wait, nothing can be done....put in the insurance claim and we'll deal with it later on...

 

[Glenn]

I did an informal visual survey driving home yesterday. The ice damming it happening on new and old houses alike.

 

[billski]

I got 100 lbs of Calcium chloride this morning, then got in an auto accident on the way home , which will screw up my weekend ski plans.

True value hardware had some sort of chlorideI (calcium chloride?), but I was warned not to use it on roofs, so I wandered until I got a tip of a hardware store that had calcuim chloride. Lowes was totally wiped out.
Glad I have a snow rake, but what's up there now is 3/4" of ice on the whole roof, the downside of having shoveled it off on Sunday.
Ice dams are about 5" at the worst.

Decided to go with the panty hose method (benefits of being married and having all girls). Got them up there. Its sunny and they keep slipping down, but they are melting grooves. Working at home to monitor and adjust the situation. The dripping inside has started again. Sucks.

 

[drjeff]

I did an informal visual survey driving home yesterday. The ice damming it happening on new and old houses alike.

I did notice on my house that I had more significant ice damming on my South and West sides where the sun (whenever it is actually out ) bakes the roof more than on the North/East sides. That being said, from having been up on most of my roof this past Monday (there are some parts of the roof of my Cape style house where I'm just not going to venture given the height and pitch of the roof! ) that I did have ice damming all the way around. The "good" thing (if there is one) is that having a decent sized addition put on my house 5 years ago where what parts of the roof weren't built new, were totally redone, I had some long discussions with the architect and builder about some previous water issues I had in my house and the soltuions they came up with (can't remember exactly what barriers, etc they used on the roof under the shingles) has worked great to date. We'll see this year.....

 

[snafu]

Read this post a couple days ago, looked at my house and saw some ice dams forming but no leaks or anything other than thick ice and icicles so I wasn't worried...until I looked yesterday and saw brown tinged ice running down the side of the house. Still I can't see any leaks inside but I will be armed with a roof rake and hopefully some ice melt of some sort at lunch.

 

[Glenn]

I may have mentioned it earlier in this thread...but our small A-Frame in VT actually had some ice dams on it. It's been a really interesting winter. VT usually gets a good amount of snow...but it must have been the combonation of snow amount, type and air temp that created it.

If I've learned anything...maybe a metal roof isn't such a bad idea....LOL!

 

[drjeff]

I may have mentioned it earlier in this thread...but our small A-Frame in VT actually had some ice dams on it. It's been a really interesting winter. VT usually gets a good amount of snow...but it must have been the combonation of snow amount, type and air temp that created it.

If I've learned anything...maybe a metal roof isn't such a bad idea....LOL!

There's definately something to be said for a metal roof for sure. And those almost automatic giant snowbanks they give you next to the house if the roof has enough pitch are cool to look at for sure! :lol:

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

this makes me want to get rid of the gutters entirely or just take em down for the winter.

 

[djspookman]

In regards to the whole ice dam issue..

I have a problem on the old part of the house, but not the new.

Old house: ranch w/ a metal roof built in 1976, with only 4-6" of fiberglass bat insulation in the attic (ack!!), has some major damming issues due to lack of ventilation and insufficient insulation

Addition: tumberframe rafters/ ridge w/ 9" SIP panels on the roof w/ a vented "cold roof" NO ice issues at all.

both roof surfaces are standing seam metal, no gutters.


Solution for my old roof (as well as others!) is more insulation in the attic, prop-a-vents at the eaves, vented soffits, vented ridge, and gable wall vents. All will help make the roof a "cold roof"

I design and build houses for a living...

here's some diagrams:

http://www.faryal.net/image/338-0.jpg

http://www.michenerinc.com/Cold_Roof_Detail_2.jpg

also, this pic is my place w/ addition shown. You can see there is no ice off the eaves, but int he foreground you see the icicles from the old part of the house. The addition has a super insulated roof and a cold roof. The old does not. .. hmm heat loss much? This summer I'm doing a major energy-retrofit on the old part of the house.

 

[Puck it]

Cold roof is what you want. However if the ridge vent is covered by snow then the flow becomes stagnant. This is my problem.

 

[djspookman]

Cold roof is what you want. However if the ridge vent is covered by snow then the flow becomes stagnant. This is my problem.

haha, true! gable end vents and ridge vents will help that issue. In the mean time, do like I am and get up there and shovel! (or rake from the ground)


Another issue of course is your plumbing vents being buried and not working. That could cause sewer gasses to build up in the home, or just plain slow draining fixtures. We have 28-38" of snow on our roof. Typical code for the plumbing vents is 18" tall, so clear those out as well!

 

[Puck it]

haha, true! gable end vents and ridge vents will help that issue. In the mean time, do like I am and get up there and shovel! (or rake from the ground)


Another issue of course is your plumbing vents being buried and not working. That could cause sewer gasses to build up in the home, or just plain slow draining fixtures. We have 28-38" of snow on our roof. Typical code for the plumbing vents is 18" tall, so clear those out as well!

Vent pipe is not covered. I only have ridge vent. The house is a hip roof.

 

[dmc]

this makes me want to get rid of the gutters entirely or just take em down for the winter.

I don't have gutters...

I saw a ton of them ripped off of roofs after last Februarys 6 foot dump.. It got ugly..

 

[wa-loaf]

I don't have gutters...

I saw a ton of them ripped off of roofs after last Februarys 6 foot dump.. It got ugly..

I need my gutters, my basement gets wet if they are clogged and don't run the water away from the house.

 

[Glenn]

There's definately something to be said for a metal roof for sure. And those almost automatic giant snowbanks they give you next to the house if the roof has enough pitch are cool to look at for sure! :lol:

And if snow sticks...you can ski down the roof.


djspookman,
Good point on the cold roof. With our a-frame, that's just about inpossible without adding another deck to the roof. It's one reason I'm hesitant to insulate the walls/roof more. Without air flow, it's going to creat problems. Idealy, we'd add more insulation and built a deck on top of the existing roof, creating a gap for a some nice air flow. But, it's a weekend house and we can heat it all season without using a ton of propane. It is what it is for now.

 

[djspookman]

And if snow sticks...you can ski down the roof.


djspookman,
Good point on the cold roof. With our a-frame, that's just about inpossible without adding another deck to the roof. It's one reason I'm hesitant to insulate the walls/roof more. Without air flow, it's going to creat problems. Idealy, we'd add more insulation and built a deck on top of the existing roof, creating a gap for a some nice air flow. But, it's a weekend house and we can heat it all season without using a ton of propane. It is what it is for now.

mmmm, yes A-frames...I haven't had any experience venting those, but first glance looks difficult!