Damned Ice Damns
Connecticut
Every one ! Have to put the heat tape wire next year Pat .My house in New York has 3 feet of snow slide metal and it still try's to dam up the roof is a 11.5 12 pitch if you put the wire you can run it on a timer now maybe a steam jenny to get it off it sucks . Steve
I was raking the snow off my roof all afternoon yesterday then chipping the ice damns from the gutters. I had ice that was 4 inches thick,......I really don't like this winter :(
No leaks ......yet!
Pat,
After having a rough go with ice dams in 2010 I researched roof rakes and got a really good one, along with extension sections (I have a high 2-story home) to ensure I could pull down at least 6' of the snow.
At minimum the ice/water barrier on your roof should extend 18" from the drip edge. As long as you can keep ice from advancing past this you should be able to avoid leaks. The key is to get out as soon as you can after the snow stops and rake as far up the roof as you can.
Once the dams start it gets harder to keep them from advancing up the roof and you may have to get on a ladder with a hammer and break them up. Another option is to get socks or pantyhose, fill them with icemelt and either lay them along the roof edge or toss them up there and let them melt the ice.
This time of year if you absolutely have to call a roofer prepare to get hosed; figure a bare minimum of $150-$200 (usually a 2 or 3-man crew) but they will do a good job.
For future winters you can also look into having a "heating line" installed along the roof edge; once down whenver you notice ice build up just plug it in and if properly installed they do a good job getting the ice under control.
Sorry to hear you're having a rough go; I had to cut out a few sections of ceiling in one room and then bledge in the "popcorn" ceiling; not my ideal way to spend a weekend!
Good luck, hope this helped!
Be cautious of using ice melt formulations on your roof as they may permanently stain the roofing. Still better than patching leaks.
Pat,
One other thought; ice dam formation can also be aided by inadequate ventilation of the roof. As hot air rises and hits the roof underlayment it melts the snow. Gable vents don't really move enough air rapidly enough to address this; a ridge vent and soffet vents will do a much better job.
If you already have a ridge vent and soffet vents check to see that your attic insulation isn't covering the soffet vents up and blocking air flow. If you added a ridge and soffet vents to a house that had gable vents be sure to seal off the gable vents as they will interfere with the air flow.
And if you ridge vent is covered by 3 feet of snow you may want to get that opened up again.
or wait and call a roofer come spring..
Mike is right, anything you do to the roof is just putting a bandaid on the problem the root of the cause is as Mike described.
The concept is to keep the attic cold.
Pat I used a hammer drill to remove all the ice dams at my house in Brooklyn. Your more than welcome to borrow it if you're concerned about getting them off your roof before they cost you $$$.Let me no.I'm not far from Eastford.
Been using the roof rake religiously, and doing my neighbors as well, no problems with ice dams.
I raked my roof all day Sunday afternoon, figured it was good exercise for pulling back my bow.
40's temps next week :)
Great post guys.
I'm installing a roof heating line this summer. $200 bucks will save you a lot of work and aggravation and could save you thousands of $$$ as well.
I learned the hard way a few years ago we had a big snow i didn't think much of it until my kitchen ceiling came down from all the water after that i shoveled the snow off the first 4 feet right after it stop snowing no more ice dams i know its a pain to get up there and shovel still better then buying new sheet rock ..
I have the roof rake and it works great, but at 64 yrs old it causes sore shoulder muscles pulling on the rake for 3 hours.
Years ago pulling something for a long time was never a problem, but now ,...... ;)
PUT UP ICE MELT WIRE MADE BY FROST KING 6 YEARS AGO, I PLUG IT IN WHEN SNOW STARTS AND UNPLUG IT THE DAY AFTER IT STOPS. WHEN THE SNOW MELTS IT RUNS RIGHT THREW THE CHANNELS THAT WERE MELTED AWAY. BEST MONEY SPENT HANDS DOWN.
Thanks for the info Treeshaker that is my plan for the summer.
I am going to install these in a few Months. Such an easy fix, except for trudging in 3 feet of snow while plugging it in.
I worked at a trailer park for a bit. we used a similar product for the water lines coming out of the ground to the exposed pipes under the trailer . it comes in 200' braided roll .you could lay it in the gutter and down spouts . I believe it heats up to 40* . its a step up from the frost king stuff . look up " heat tape ".I think its about $1.50 a ft plus connectors , plugs .
used my Tree Stand Harness attached to the center post of a double window so I could stand on my farmers porch roof and chop through the ice dam on the 2nd story roof. Still felt uncomfortable, but I was able to stop the leak.
