Here we snow again..

Metal is nice if it can melt enough to slide. I reckon the build up is mostly in the valleys, of which I have none.

Every roof here has icicles several feet long, some even going roof to ground.

 

There is a long term fix for the ice backing up but it's a whole major roof job. My aunt & uncle had it done on their farm house years ago.
1-1/2" styrofoam laid on existing shingles, 2x4 laid flat from peak to eaves, nailed/screwed at 16" OC, 5/8" plywood then shingled. New ridge and soffit vents. They used to have those eve to ground ice problems... after, not even one tiny icicle.

 

We must have a big dump coming in the forecast. The monster snow blowers were out in full force today knocking the banks back.

 

Same here wildwest

 

Yep, that would do it alright.


My problem is heat loss, same as theirs. We had the ice bad everywhere years ago, but then I had the house insulated under the mass save program and they blew dense pack cellulose into the roof of the cape section and into the attic floor of the back addition.

Funny thing is, after this, the roof of the 1700's cape section (which is southern facing).. has minimal melting and the ice dams are gone. I see more ice on modern houses.

Its the roof in the back, on the contemporary addition that STILL has problems. I think its a combination of not enough air sealing....which is practically impossible to do right in a structure this old... and not enough venting. I do have a full ridge vent on the addition section, but the soffit venting is spotty, and its tough to add because of the construction - the top plate is a 6in x6in beam and then the soffit overhang is boxed in outboard of that. I have to add vents but then cut into it from inside the attic to let the air get in. Even worse, when they added the dining room addition they just built over an old stone patio and framed a new roof on top of the old roof so you have some dead space that doesn't have an air path to the ridge vent. I cut some access in there a couple years ago to try and open up airflow.

I know this summer I need to do everything I can to get in there and improve the venting situation of attic. Maybe that and more proactive roof raking may keep things at bay..

A new roof would be an opportunity to fix it once and for all but I'm looking at probably 15k+ just for the shingle job and that is not in the budget this year. I was hoping to get at least another 5 years out of it (30 year shingles put on in 97)...

 

You're so right, older homes are just about impossible to seal up enough to stop snow from melting and re-freezing. I just came in from roof raking too. I'm trying to keep the 2 valleys fairly clear between the house and garage. Still have ice built up in the back valley from the big dump of snow we had a couple weeks back, and I didn't get to it.

While I was pullin' the roof rake, I noticed it was an absolutely beautiful sunny day here... ... really sharp like that..

 

Ahhhhhh the sky is falling!



Oh, wait, nope.... just more snow flurries.

 

here it comes again, euro model 12"+ another intense B includes all 50 in the ensemble runs.

 

Can't get calcium chloride or just about anything related to snow/ice removal around here. Just wiped out. Going up to shovel the roof now. I saw an icicle that was about 15 feet + tall hanging from a gutter on a house this morning.

 

I tend to use sand for traction, putting it down at the end of the day's solar cycle when the day's melt that hasn't evaporated turns to ice.

Got some fairly long sun induced icicles growing on the south side of the house.

 

Ended the afternoon on the roof. I have an ice dam across the back of the house about 4" thick at the edge. There is about 2" of standing water behind it. I have no leaks as this area was a renovation project a few years ago and I put ice & water shield over the new roof decking. I chipped some channels halfway through the ice and will get some Calc. Chlor. on it tomorrow.



I have overhangs on my roof like a cottage style design. Snow and ice melts on the roof and these overhangs are freezing the melt off at the gutter. I have a bath vent that goes out between the rafter tails at the overhang. I believe the heat leaving the vent is causing the melt in the area.



Chimney cap inspection.



Sunset over the stink pipe.



I was at HD last weekend and the have a FLIR camera for locating heat losses this time of year. It was somewhere around $80.00 for 24 hours. I am probably going to rent it and see what is going on here.

 

Man, I feel bad for you folks fighting those battles. I re-did my roof in 2011 and put ice shield over the entire roof. My house is H shaped with 4 valleys. Fortunately I have really good ridge venting as well as really large soffit over hang. I have no melt causing daming. With engineered trusses, designed for heavier Canadian snow loads I have no need to go up on that roof while things are frozen. The more you walk around up there, the more damage you do to the shingles, especially if they are the newer fiberglass style. Now my flatter steel roofed sheds are a whole different deal............right now they only have about 10" on them. Can only hope it stays the way. Good luck to you lads and stay safe up on those roofs.

 

For once patronizing local businesses is paying off. The wife had got some rock salt but everyone is telling me to stick with calcium... On the way home from work today I go to my local hardware store where they basically know me by name... They had a new shipment out back so I walk in to buy two bags. Teen at the register says "oh sir we have a 1 bag per customer limit right now" manager walks over "that doesn't apply to him, he is a good customer let him buy however much he wants"

sometime things work out. Hopefully your store will get some soon...

 

Nice job rotti.. I never worry about the weight, as this place is built like a tank. But i know from the paperwork the previous owners left they only put the minimal 3ft strip of ice shield down when the roof was last done.... Ice has worked its way up farther than that

 

This is not good. Pete Bouchard:

" Save a seat for the snow. It will be hitting hard overnight on Saturday. This storm is so large, we may see near-blizzard conditions on the Cape/Islands. Coastal flooding seems minor at this point, but we'll have to see how the ocean responds to this tempest."