| Author |
Message |
    
chocoholic
Citizen
Username: Shrink
Post Number: 57
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 3:54 pm: |     |
My house has a problem with ice dams. I was told by the inspector that we needed a ridge vent and I have heard that soffit vents also help with this problem. Can anybody suggest anybody to do this work? |
tourne
Citizen
Username: Tourne
Post Number: 253
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 - 10:43 pm: | |
Here is some related info on ice dams:www.extension.umn.edu/extensionnews/1997/JN1039.html. Ice dams are an indication that a lot of warm air is getting to the roof. ie. A lot of your hard earned heat is going out the roof, so to speak. |
Michael K. Mc Kell
Citizen
Username: Greenerose
Post Number: 140
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 5:29 am: | |
You might want to consider ading insulation.
Do you have bead board soffits?
Michael K. Mc Kell
|
Jim Murphy
Citizen
Username: Jimmurphy
Post Number: 146
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 8:54 am: | |
Michael,
Out of curiosity, why the question about beadboard soffits?
Jim |
millie amoresano
Citizen
Username: Millieamoresano
Post Number: 4
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 4:38 pm: | |
My husband is a carpenter and does that kind of work if interested call him at 973-599-0380 and ask for bruno thank you |
Michael K. Mc Kell
Citizen
Username: Greenerose
Post Number: 147
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 5:56 pm: | |
I ask the question about bead board because the correct way to install vents in these soffite is with either a vinyl vented strip down the center which requires some removal of the the T&G bead board.
Or if you want to go authentic like.... Cut out sections and insert bronze screen.
If there's Yankee gutters on the home all is null and void.
Michael K. Mc Kell
|
bemused
Citizen
Username: Bemused
Post Number: 23
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 8:31 pm: | |
What is an ice dam? |
Michael K. Mc Kell
Citizen
Username: Greenerose
Post Number: 149
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, December 11, 2003 - 11:22 pm: | |
Exactly what it sounds like.
When water gathers and freezes creating a quazi glacier of sorts. Thereby preventing water from traveling correctly and going under the shingles.
Michael K. Mc Kell
|
Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 32
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Friday, December 12, 2003 - 8:27 am: | |
I have a question. I didn't ever have Ice Dams until last year when the roof got replaced. Now I do have them ... before .. no insulation in roof, no ridge vent, no nothing ... now...completely insulated roof with ridge vents and the whole 9 yards and I get Ice dams...any suggestions?
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
Michael K. Mc Kell
Citizen
Username: Greenerose
Post Number: 151
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 12, 2003 - 3:20 pm: | |
Are the gutters clogged?
Michael K. Mc Kell
|
peteglider
Citizen
Username: Peteglider
Post Number: 400
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Friday, December 12, 2003 - 3:47 pm: | |
from what i understand ice dams form when
1) heat from inside the house causes ice to melt and then reform under the shingles, and
2) when the gutter is totally filled with ice -- the water backs up under the shingles and sheathing.
could need more insulation and more ventilation in attic and/or gutter problem (clogged downspout? frozen underground piping?)
good luck -- pete |
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 1955
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, December 12, 2003 - 7:51 pm: | |
An ice dam can form whenever a there is a better insulated or colder section of roof below a warmer section. Given the right temperatures and a snow-covered roof, the water will melt on the warmer section, run down, and freeze on the colder section. Eventually the water will backup to the warmer section, seep under the shingles, and leak through the roof. Usually, this happens at the eaves and gutters, but it could happen elsewhere. |
upondaroof
Citizen
Username: Upondaroof
Post Number: 2
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Friday, December 12, 2003 - 8:50 pm: | |
Your dead on tjohn. There has been much debate about keeping gutters cleaned and insulating and venting, but as you point out, the dam will form wherever the coldest spot is, in the roof system. A lot of well meaning contractors will remove the snow (and guttering) at the eaves, in an attempt to temporarily remediate the leakage, only to have the dam move higher up the slope. In a perfect world, insulation and venting, would create a perfectly cold roof system and ice damming would not occur, but the reality is that the people who are having problems are in houses that are virtually impossible to insulate and ventilate properly, without blowing off the entire roof structure and rebuilding to specs. This would require quite a bit more money than the average re-roof and a lot more expertise than the average contractor would posess. With that point in mind, the manufactures have come up with underlayments that are designed to minimize, if not completely eliminate the leakage due to ice damming, but like anything it's only as good as the guy that installs it. The majority of people who have leakage after re-roofing (with provision for ice protection) that I have encountered are being caused by improper installation of the underlayments. To be effective, the ice guard must be installed behind the gutter and turned up and behind all wall sidings. Short of that it will leak. My company did a lot of new installations back in the building boom of the '80's, before ice guard and ventilation were the vogue, and we used to wrap the fascia with the felt uderlayment and turn up same at every wall and projection and never, ever had a call back for leakage due to ice dams. } |
jgberkeley
Supporter
Username: Jgberkeley
Post Number: 3376
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, December 14, 2003 - 10:12 pm: | |
All said and done, if you have Ice dams, your only solution today is to install Ice Wire. Home Depot sells it, you lay it on the roof in V patterens and plug it into an extention cord and then into an outlet.
The wire warms to about the heat of a 20 Watt light bulb, allows the ice or snow to melt and travel the wire V to the apex which is at the gutter.
Then the Ice Dams do not develop and the water flows away.
A whole lot cheaper than the re-roof solutions.
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic. |
chocoholic
Citizen
Username: Shrink
Post Number: 58
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 15, 2003 - 3:54 pm: | |
Thanks for the feedback.
I guess I will try the Ice wire; I do have yankee gutters so I guess vents in the soffits are out of the question. |
Richard O'Connor
Citizen
Username: Roconn
Post Number: 38
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 16, 2003 - 9:19 am: | |
I think the ice wire is going to be my solution too ... but my contractor is in fact, for free, going to come back and see if they missed something with insulation . . . (and this is a year after he finished) (CMC Construction 973-953-4898)
Richard (ROC)
--Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark; professionals built the Titanic.--
--AIM: ROConn |
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