"Walter Cohen" wrote in message
et...
You missed the point.
I have ice buildup/dams in winter and am looking for a way to cut down or
eliminate it from occurring.
My gutters work fine when there isn't ice in them.

Walter
No real good solutions for an existing roof- it almost has to be built into
the roof design. Some people put zig-zags of heat tape up there, but that is
of course expensive to feed, and can actually make damming situation worse
unless you leave it running till roof is dry. Any way to stop heat leakage
from house that melts the snow at overhang? If you can keep the roof deck
cold, that may be enough to keep ice down. Or do you get enough sunlight in
winter that it heats itself? Is your roof due for an upgrade anytime soon?
Definitely want a couple rows of that sticky membrane stuff along the
bottom, if you don't have them already. If problem is real bad, you may want
to consider a standing seam roof, and least for the faces where the snow
builds up. Snow slides right off those puppies, to the extent you have to
put peak things above doors to avoid people being hit by mini-avalanches.
Maybe, once rainy season is over, you could tuck a strip of flashing under
first row of shingles in the problem areas, and sort of plate over the
gutter? Not sure how you would fasten it w/o damaging roof, however.

Winters have been ultra-mild around here for the last decade or so, but when
I furst moved up here, everyone had roof rakes, and used them. Fine on a
6-12 ranch roof, but not real practical on a 2-story colonial. More than 6"
of snow, figure on spending an hour raking before the next storm. Usually
didn't need to do whole roof, just the little pockets (like on an L-shaped
roof) where the drifts built up. Up in Norway, they build roofs like
upside-down ships, with the pointy end into prevailing wind.

aem sends...