Help! - Ice dam...
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Elder User
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Help! - Ice dam...
Anyone have any suggestions for melting ice build-up on the edge of a roof? The recent snow we received here in New Jersey has caused a big build-up of ice which has now completely clogged up the gutters.
My suggestion of using a small propane torch was vetoed... Electric heat-gun, maybe? I really need to do something before the ice makes it way under the shingles...
I know, I know... should have installed heat-trace... too late now... but that will be one of the first projects come Spring-time...
My suggestion of using a small propane torch was vetoed... Electric heat-gun, maybe? I really need to do something before the ice makes it way under the shingles...
I know, I know... should have installed heat-trace... too late now... but that will be one of the first projects come Spring-time...
Elder User
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Villa Rica, GA
get some insulation in the attic, if the snow on the roof doesnt have a chance to melt you wont get ice dams. a heat gun would probably work but it would take forever if there is a lot of ice, the water idea will probablywork the best just try not to spray it everywhere because you will end up with ice on everything. you could probably just lay some heat wire on top of the ice untill it melts then your roof will be clear to tack it down untill you can permanantly install it in the spring.
Jason
Jason
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If you feel comfortable climbing up on the roof, go up there and shovel/sweep the snow off. The ice dam by itself is not so bad; it is when liquid water ponds behind it and runs back under the shingles that there is a problem. If you get rid of the snow, there won't be so much water when it starts to melt.
Another approach is to clear just a couple of feet back from the eaves. Then chop a channel through the dam every 6 to 8 feet or so. By getting rid of the slushy snow above the dam, you allow water to run latterally along the dam to one of your channells.
Another approach is to clear just a couple of feet back from the eaves. Then chop a channel through the dam every 6 to 8 feet or so. By getting rid of the slushy snow above the dam, you allow water to run latterally along the dam to one of your channells.
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I'm surprised you got ice up there in New Jersey. Here in Baltimore, the snow was super light and dry and the temperature hasn't been above 32 in many days.
Did the snow melt on your roof, or did you get slushy snow or freezing rain? If it was the former, you'll need to insulate that attic ASAP.
If the snow you got was as light as ours, and it didn't melt on your roof, you could clear a lot of it with a leaf blower.
Otherwise, melting a few gaps in the ice (to prevent ponding) sounds like th right idea.
Good luck!
Did the snow melt on your roof, or did you get slushy snow or freezing rain? If it was the former, you'll need to insulate that attic ASAP.
If the snow you got was as light as ours, and it didn't melt on your roof, you could clear a lot of it with a leaf blower.
Otherwise, melting a few gaps in the ice (to prevent ponding) sounds like th right idea.
Good luck!
Freshman User
Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Newark, OH
Think that you got it bad
I will tell you something that will make u feel better, i am only 16 and on Dec 23 Ohio was hit with a huge ice storm. needless to say my fist car a 1994 mustang, was destroyed, i had 2 trees fall on it. Yes 2 and they did fall, the only reason that my car was hit was because i moved it so that my dad would be able to park his P.O.S. chevy truck where i parked well he stayed at his store that night because the roads were to bad for him to come home and we all know how well a mustang handles in the snow so i wasnt about to move it. I hope that this makes u feel better about ur truck
RL
RL
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From: Magrath
Not sure if it will work, but you could try pouring some de-icer into the the gutters. I would think it would work for getting the current ice out.
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Elder User
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yeah... 18" of snow + not-so-well insulated 130 year-old house + low pitch roof = ice.
Last time it snowed like this, I climbed up there and shovelled it off - no icing problems. Unfortunately, the roof is constructed wit rough-sawn 2x4's 36" on-center at a rather low pitch (1:4 or so?)... and some leaks started... which made the other-half kinda upset...
It's difficult to describe the construction, but getting additional insulation in the affected area is basically impossible without completely rebuilding half the house - which if it leaks much more will happen anyway... The roof over this area of the house has more problems than just this and will need some serious re-engineering at some point, however that will cost a good bit of money. Ah, the joys of a 130 year old house that has been added on to 3 times...
Thanks for all the suggestions... gives me some stuff to think about.
Last time it snowed like this, I climbed up there and shovelled it off - no icing problems. Unfortunately, the roof is constructed wit rough-sawn 2x4's 36" on-center at a rather low pitch (1:4 or so?)... and some leaks started... which made the other-half kinda upset...
It's difficult to describe the construction, but getting additional insulation in the affected area is basically impossible without completely rebuilding half the house - which if it leaks much more will happen anyway... The roof over this area of the house has more problems than just this and will need some serious re-engineering at some point, however that will cost a good bit of money. Ah, the joys of a 130 year old house that has been added on to 3 times...
Thanks for all the suggestions... gives me some stuff to think about.
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Never had it done, but I think they can blow loose insulation through a pretty small hole. My parents' house was added onto and has the old roof cutting the attic in half. If that's the kind of situation you're in, you might be able to cut a hole in the old roof and blow insulation in the new area.
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Originally Posted by jjshaw
Never had it done, but I think they can blow loose insulation through a pretty small hole. My parents' house was added onto and has the old roof cutting the attic in half. If that's the kind of situation you're in, you might be able to cut a hole in the old roof and blow insulation in the new area.
The true fix for the problem will be to completely remove the entire roof and original structure, then rebuild it and integrate the 3 different construction parts into one seemless roof, adding joist insulation while everything is open.
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From: va
removing ice dams
What I do is every time it snows I rake the bottom 4 feet. This way the ice will never build up. I use a roof rake with just one pole attachment about 10 feet long. It take me 15 min to do all around my home 60 feet, I snow blow around the house though. If there's a fire we can get away from the house in a hurry. Make sure at the first spring thaw you rake the whole roof or it will leak real bad. Snow melts and collects behind the ice dam then goes up and under the ice and water shield, its under the shingles and goes up 3 feet. You need to stop the ice dams right away, you may have some wood damage already. You could also remove all the gutters to. Hope this helps some.
Mike
Mike
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Originally Posted by Ian F
The true fix for the problem will be to completely remove the entire roof and original structure, then rebuild it and integrate the 3 different construction parts into one seemless roof, adding joist insulation while everything is open.
Obviously, I'm suggesting fixes for a problem I know nothing about. Sorry about that.
Hope you have luck with your ice dams.
Jon
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Originally Posted by mike L
What I do is every time it snows I rake the bottom 4 feet. This way the ice will never build up. I use a roof rake with just one pole attachment about 10 feet long. It
Coincidentally, our neighbor was out there as well, only he had water leaking into his house. Fortunately, we didn't.
Side note: do NOT plug the trace in and then unroll it onto the roof. Why? Because the stuff gets rather hot pretty quickly - hot enough to melt the outer insulation together and make a big 'ole mess... Fortunately, we had more than one roll...
Plug it in long enough to make it pliable if it's cold out, then unplug it.
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From: Oregon
Kind of OT, but this reminds me of a job I did at an old school. It was one of those big 1950's bomb proof ones and I had to go up in the attic. Over the office area here's this roof from a one room school house, intact. Instead of tearing it down when they built the new school, they just left it there. I now know from personal expirence that if you keep your roof dry, out of sunlight and at a controlled temperture, it'll last well over 100 years and never leak or have ice problems.