Ice Dams causing damage?

**pgn421** · February-18-14, 04:12 PM

Anyone else having damage inside the house with ice dams?

**DetroitPlanner** · February-18-14, 04:44 PM

I have been known to throw the more expensive, less corrosive salt on my roof at this time of the year to create channels to mitigate the problem. Yeah the neighbors think I am nuts, but then again many of you think that too!

Good luck finding salt this year though.

So far I am doing good though. I will check again today as it has been too cold for anything to melt. Today? Different story.

**Ray1936** · February-18-14, 04:53 PM

Plenty of salt here in Las Vegas. Will trade for water.

**ferndalien** · February-18-14, 05:40 PM

Any snowmelter can help as a last resort. What doesn't help is climbing a ladder with a hairdryer - a friend and I learned that years ago when were were younger and dumber. Beer may have been involved.

Really the only fix is to improve your attic insulation. The ice in the gutter forms when it's below freezing out - melt from the roof [[caused by heat escaping from inside) gets into the gutter and forms a big old ice log. Then on days like today, the remaining roof snow melts like crazy and backs up behind the ice in the gutter, under the shingles and into your walls/ceilings.

Our neighbors' house and ours are twins - same builder, same layout, same everything, 1951 vintage. We upgraded our attic insulation a few years ago, they did not. We have no icicles/ice dams, they do.

Its an expensive fix, but it saves you $ on heating and cooling, and saves $ on ice dam damage repair.

**jt1** · February-18-14, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by Ray1936

Plenty of salt here in Las Vegas. Will trade for water.

We'll trade for pension dollars.

**Ray1936** · February-18-14, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by jt1

We'll trade for pension dollars.

Ooooo. You really know how to hurt a guy!

**Jimaz** · February-18-14, 07:29 PM

Originally Posted by pgn421

Anyone else having damage inside the house with ice dams?

We have before had this water damage under a shallow roof so we installed a roof heater a few years ago. It seems to be doing the job so far this year. It's important not to use it below 15ºF or else you can create dams.

We have bad ice dams on another roof but that one has never leaked, I assume because it's much steeper. We are tossing some salt pucks up there this year.

Another solution found on YouTube was to fill some socks with salt and position them carefully at the edge of the roof so they'll melt drainage channels through the dam. I think they tied cords to the socks for some reason, maybe to pull the socks down from below without a ladder when they're done?

Using a roof rake to remove the snow before it melts is another solution. Search YouTube for some interesting variations.

**scottn55** · February-18-14, 07:36 PM

Currently listening to the "pat... pat... pat... pat..." of water dripping through my bedroom ceiling.

**hybridy** · February-18-14, 08:21 PM

My home was an estate sale and all tools were included. The roof rake with 15' handle was the best part. I rake it a few times a season on the south side of my home. No water issues. Also having gutter covers helps.

My father in law did buy some ice melt here in WI to take back to MI this past weekend. Strange to think its out. Every gas station and big box has it here

**sirrealone** · February-19-14, 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by ferndalien

Really the only fix is to improve your attic insulation.

Add to that proper attic ventilation. We had our roof re-done this past year. In addition to switching from box vents to ridge vents, our roofer double the amount of intake vents in the soffits around the perimeter of the house. I've noticed that most of my neighbors, many of whom used the cheapest roofing contractor, have icicles in all over the place. We have one spot, behind a tree in a shady area, that has a couple of small icicles, but nothing compared to what many similar houses have.

Though, to your point, we also added attic insulation a few years back. The combo seems to be very helpful.

**ferndalien** · February-19-14, 09:24 AM

Originally Posted by sirrealone

Add to that proper attic ventilation.

Good point - keeping heat from escaping your house into the attic is one part of the fix, letting any heat out that does get in there is the other.

**msamslex** · February-19-14, 03:16 PM

We need our roof replaced but due to unemployment and other financial issues, we are unable to do much at this time. I'm just thankful we have somewhere to live, so many others don't at all.

**WaCoTS** · February-19-14, 11:05 PM

i insulated the hell out of my bungalow, and i also have a roof rake that i try to use religiously, but because the gables on the front of my house form a gigantic "V" between them, every single bit of moisture ends up there to re-freeze, and the glacier eventually builds anyway. as well as a couple other places i cant reach with my roof rake.

when i go for a new roof soon, i'm hoping to get a metal roof, or at least metal on the bottom edges like they do in the Yoopee, so as to minimize the damage.

you should see some of the ice dams at Fort Wayne...the Visitor Center almost looked like the Fortress of Solitude a couple times this year, with icicles reaching from roof to ground.

we also have several areas that have drifted up anywhere from 3-5ft deep. the powder magazine is almost completely buried. you could sled from the top of the parapet wall down into the parade ground inside the star fort. the Army CoE and the Detroit Historical Society have helped to keep the roads plowed somewhat, but most of them are abandoned right now. i had hoped to get some winter tree work done, but right now there is just too much damned snow to do anything.

Tuskegee Museum guy is still there toughing it out though, if anyone wants to pay him a visit, haha.