Hi all
Today, the big ice dam on the roof fell off.
Never had one like this.
Destroyed the plastic roof on the dog run below.
Scared all of them and myself.
Anyone have ideas how to prevent this in the future.
Will have to wait another month or 2 to fix and replace the roof.
Jeff
Replies
One way is to put a strip about 3-4' wide of metal from the roof edge up so snow and ice always slides off before it builds up. Second way is to put little metal tabs that stick up and hold the ice and snow onto the roof until it all melts. Last is to put heat tapes to melt what's there.
The real solution though is to keep ice dams from forming by insulating ceilings below the roof so you have a "cold roof" (snow doesn't melt and run down to eves where it freezes to create dam). Also provide plenty of ventilation under roof to keep it cold by using soffit vents (or gable vents) and "mushroom" vents or continuous ridge vents so air flows from soffit (or gable vents) up underside of roof and out the ridge or mushroom vents. Make sure any insulation does not block soffit vents.
Along with this, since you say you are replacing the roof, put bituthene ("Ice Guard") on at the edge of the roof under the shingles so any future dams don't cause water to back up under the shingles.
After suffering for years with ice damming problems it got cured with a Cool-Vent™ roof. It isn't a cheap date, but it's a certain cure.
Of course, you need to properly insulate the house and ventilate the space under the roof. In my case that was all done, but the eaves couldn't be properly vented because of huge timbers in the eaves.
It was installed last July. This past winter was a walk in the park.
Go to hpanels.com for all the tech stuff.
Regards,
DonI'm not the man I used to be, but then I never was!
Hi allSorry, I didn't explain more.I reroofed this summer. House, garage, shop, etc.Yes, I Bitched the roof for 6ft at the same time.Also, increased the roof venting.I have cathedral ceilings, so I loose heat to the attic I can't control.I've had ice before, but never like this.The whole back of the house has a dog run with a fiberglass roof for light. I just increased it's size this summer at the same time.You know, the wavy plastic material.The ice came right thru it and also damaged some of the rafters.Huge chunks of ice.Won't be all that bad to fix it the when things dry up.I'll try to beef it up some more so it won't break. I'll need to reroof with something more durable.I'll look into the roof eagles and whatever.Thanks for the help, any other idea, please post them.Jeff
I've used Snow Guards, or also known as "snow Eagles" on older homes where the slate roof causes sheets of snow/ice to come sailing off, causing all forms of damage. And I've used them on conventional roofs, and metal roofs as well. A google search on "Snow eagles" or "Snow guards" should get some results. And the "cold roof" idea also helps.
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