I've been beaten by Ice Dams!

[St_Croix_Banks]

Well---I thought I had it under control---raking roof off, heat cords on roof. But this past warm up I noticed water dripping in from around the header of two of my windows. Icicles formed under soffit. What now? Wait until spring melt and fix the roof? I feel like the steam job they use for ice dams is a temporary fix. THoughts?

[pureinsanity]

Get all the ice off your roof. There is some on there someplace. That is what is causing your backup. I had to go up and shovel 3 feet of snow off a roof this weekend. Also had to chip all the ice off a valley with a hammer. Yes I know its bad for the roof but it was already leaking anyway.

Changing the valley this summer so we do not have any ice problems next year

[vikingmeatwad]

I just put a brand new roof on last week to avoid more issues. Now I will just need to keep as much snow off as I can with the roof rake.

I had the entire roof steamed off after I had water damage and when we got a bit more snow and warms up moisture came in again.

Not fun at all

[cavalierowner]

This has been a really bad year for ice dams. If I remember right, last year was too.

A new roof is not always what's needed to keep water from an ice dam from forming. You have to get to the cause of the ice dam. The usual way for an ice dam to form is for snow higher on the roof to start melting from a "warm" attic then freeze when it gets to the edge of the roof where it's cold from no heat loss from the attic.

The biggest thing that will help is good attic ventilation. You need lots of soffit vents and some kind of venting in the upper part of the attic so that a stack effect gets going from the soffit vents, up to the higher vents and out. You also have to be sure that the attic insulation is not up against the underside of the roof boards. Leave at least an inch of space between the top of the insulation and the bottom of the roof boards; that will allow air to flow from the soffit vents into the attic.

The other thing taht helps is good insulation. If you have marginal insulation it gets warmer in the attic and melts more snowon the roof. Although if you have good ventilation, it can overcome marginal insulation to a certain extent.

Hope this very long-winded post helps.

[leech~~]

Well---I thought I had it under control---raking roof off, heat cords on roof. But this past warm up I noticed water dripping in from around the header of two of my windows. Icicles formed under soffit. What now? Wait until spring melt and fix the roof? I feel like the steam job they use for ice dams is a temporary fix. THoughts?

There is a FM member mabr that maybe able to help you with this issue if he has any time with all the issues people are having right now.

[Pinusbanksiana]

I have huge ice dams too. I have scraped much of the snow off the roof, but the ice is still there. My thoughts now are to get some salt up there.

[tacklejunkie]

Anybody have any experience with a product called "Roof Melt?"(I think that's the name)

[Get'n Jiggy]

If you try to remove ice now you'll damage you roof. Any hardware store

will have heat tape that will melt channels into the ice and release the

water.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I took care of existing dams by running a hose from my laundry tub in the basement and melting them with hot water. Did the trick, but I got soaked in the process. It was a lot cheaper than paying for a steamer to come out, though.

Now I am more faithful about raking the roof

[cavalierowner]

I have huge ice dams too. I have scraped much of the snow off the roof, but the ice is still there. My thoughts now are to get some salt up there.

All the research I have done over the years on ice dams says using ice melting salt on a roof is really hard on the roof. But that was when used on a regular basis. It could also kill any plantings on the ground come spring at the drip line. Just ask my neighbor!

[Down Deep]

Be careful about using a hammer on the roof especially a valley. A small knick in the tin could spell trouble and become the source of a year round leak. Pull the snow off the roof and let the sun work on the ice for a day or two then you should be able to chip it loose by using a wide rubber mallet. Remember do it gently.

[Bigbartguy]

I've got leak in my cabin that I discovered last weekend.

I'm getting the snow off w/ roof rakes and putting 'salt socks' up to melt channels in the dams. Hopefully that will take care of it for us. Alot cheaper than pro's steaming it.

good luck whatever you do

[mabr]

Not a fan of steam. Messy, leaves house and yards coated with ice and then worry whether its going to enter your basement, but in a bad bad case we use them. All cures are a quick fix until the issue why its happening is addressed. INSULATION AND VENTILATION is the cure. Older homes you can only do so much. Framing wont allow proper insulation or venting in some cases.

IMHO, the best coarse of action is to remove ALL snow from roof. Spread ice melt "liberally" above dam, then install sock from beginning of dam and hang as many in line to get where they are hanging over edge of roof. DONT FORGET THE ICE MELT ABOVE THE DAM!!!!! You need to get the water flowing for the sock to start working. In the really cold we've had this week alot of people are trying the socks and they're just laying them across the dam, right now there is minimal melting going on. You need both the salt and the sun to get the process started. I can have water draining in the down spouts in 2-3 hours in -5 degrees, Guaranteed!!!! But you must do as I described above. No shoveling and just laying socks. You Need to jump start the melting first.

Friday and Saturday you'll have plenty of melting, water sitting behind the dam and waiting to get in your house once it builds high enough to get behind the ice and water. Get on it before then or during either day. Its only going to get worse every night as we thaw and freeze, thaw and freeze,the dams gets bigger

OOOPs forgot to mention if necessary ( we do it on all) chip and channel ( not all the way to shingle 1 inch is off deck is ok) with hammer for sock to lay in prior to installing. it just helps it get to the shingles faster.

[pureinsanity]

I have a pretty steep roof. I crawled up there and shoveled all the snow and put the ice pucks all around the ice jamb. Than I realized I couldn't get down because it was to icy! Luckily someone was still home as I didn't have my phone on me Was able to have them throw me a tow strap that is staying tied around my chimney till spring comes! Now I have a rope I can climb safely up and down when needed.

Also chipped the ice jamb away. Not to worried about damaging the roof. When spring and summmer starts I will be changing the valley completely and extending the roof so this wont be an issue again!

[tacklejunkie]

The joys of home ownership

[upnorthvoice]

do a search for this avalanche-snow dot u know what, and watch the video. I have one of these and it works. The one with a plastic slide. Best part is you get to stay on the ground. I'm not connected to this product other than I use it.

One other cause for ice dams can be the roof attic vents may be covered with snow. This will cause the snow to melt underneath around the ridge or mushroom vents and the moisture will migrate down the exterior of the roof slope.

It can also cause moisture build up in the attic as frost. This moisture can melt and follow the roof sheathing down into the insulation chutes at the energy heel, etc.

Bowstring

[jeffreyd]

we only have roof rats here. They steal the oranges from the yards and go into the attic to enjoy them. A high school kid found a cheap solution last year, started marketing to lower income people until the "contractors" took him to court saying he was cutting into their business. So he put a patent on it got his contractors license and is selling them to the other contractors that sued him. Glad well not really but glad i dont have to deal with ice jambs. sounds like a pain in the tail.

[SFC]

Before next winter fix your problem.You need to have the proper ventilation and insulation=next year no roof rake required. Most older homes dont have half the ventilation & insulation needed for their attics, do a little research online. Look back a few pages on this forum some good info on them.

[delcecchi]

Also seal all penetrations from living area to attic, like light fixtures etc.

[pureinsanity]

do a search for this avalanche-snow dot u know what, and watch the video. I have one of these and it works. The one with a plastic slide. Best part is you get to stay on the ground. I'm not connected to this product other than I use it.

One other cause for ice dams can be the roof attic vents may be covered with snow. This will cause the snow to melt underneath around the ridge or mushroom vents and the moisture will migrate down the exterior of the roof slope.

It can also cause moisture build up in the attic as frost. This moisture can melt and follow the roof sheathing down into the insulation chutes at the energy heel, etc.

Bowstring

My father has one of these and I borrowed it for my front porch. However there is no way it would have reached the other parts of the roof unless I had a fork lift to lift me up! However the avalanche does work great for rambler style homes.

1925 2 story mansion no so much!

[pureinsanity]

Also seal all penetrations from living area to attic, like light fixtures etc.

Got point on the light fixtures! If you have access to your attic go investigate! If you do not have a box with a rubber seal (vapor barrier) around it, it might not be a bad idea to replace it.

Something any DIY can do pretty easily

[vikingmeatwad]

Hey Guys, I'm reviving this thread as there are many good things noted.

My situation is I have already done quite a bit to lessen my risk of ice dams if another bad year but have a question.

I have done this since last year:

New roof (bad shape cedar shakes to asphalt)

Lots of insulation and sealing work completed with air chutes, more soffit vents and with new roof we went to ridge venting.

Added gutter guards to keep leaves out.

My question is this, do you think I should still add heat tapes to the areas that were trouble and in the gutters and down the downspouts?

Maybe this is cheap insurance but I will have to run new power to plug in the lines so not too cheap.

- maybe negative affect fastening heat tape to new shingles?

Thanks, lets get these roofs ready in case we get dumped on and winter rains!

[Tom7227]

The heat tapes are cheap insurance as you point out. New shingles may be the easiest install since they probably will lift up so you can put the tabs under them to hold the tapes in place.

As for the outlets - I found a very heavy duty extension cord that works to get the juice the 25 feet that I needed. The specs call for short or no cords but sometimes you have to do what's possible. I think the cord is No. 12 wire - it's noticeably larger in diameter than the standard cords I use in the garage.