shinypenny wrote:
Last winter we had ice dam issues and consequently leaks inside the
house. It's a duplex situation so the leaks mostly affected our
upstairs neighbors and was minimal within our own property, yet still
disturbing. Our neighbors were getting married though so pleaded to
hold off until Fall with replacement since they had some other big
bills. In the summer after a week of solid rain and even more
disturbing leaks, we unanimously decided to get a new roof before this
winter hit.

Unfortunately, it got complicated amid all of us being too darn busy
this summer/early fall to stay on top of quotes, and also (most
significantly) finding out that it's apparently not enough to simply
slap on some new asphalt. We were all thinking that would be all that
it would be: simple, straightforward, budgetable, quick once we hired
and scheduled someone.

However, all the contractors (four!) came back with the same opinion:
we have rotten wood under the asphalt in the places where we had leaks.
This is more involved than simply slapping on new asphalt; the damaged
wood needs to be replaced as well. Changing the asphalt will do little;
in fact, nearly 1/2 of the asphalt was replaced by the contractor who
sold us the place. It appears he slapped it over soggy wood.

By the time we had collected all our quotes and reconciled ourselves to
a bill that will likely turn out to cost us about 3 times more than
what we'd budgeted, as well as take a lot longer than we had planned,
our first snow hit in October. Even though we lined someone up, it does
not look like we'll be able to schedule this work this year since right
now we have 6 inches of snow and ice covering everything, and even if
the snow melts and the weather improves for a short time, the
contractor is still finishing up other commitments that bad weather has
interfered with.

So the question for the group is: is there anything we can do, short of
finger-crossing and prayers and good luck charms, to get us through
another winter with a bad roof? Are there mitigation techniques we
might try when it snows?

jen

Tube socks filled with the type of salt used to melt ice off of
sidewalks.

I haven't done this myself but I've heard people have had some luck
placing them above where the ice dams have formed. If you have metal
channels between peaks in your roof you can lay the salt filled socks
in there as well.

Next spring, aside from just a new roof you may want to consider
additional venting and insulation in your attic. Insulation
contractors are notoriously shady so be carefull. It's not exactly the
type of work that draws top notch people. If you have it done make
sure they seal around bypasses (plumbing vents and such that extend up
from the lower floors through your roof).

If there is no actual attic in your place and it's all finished space,
"dense pack" insulation can be blown in between framing members of your
roof. Even with all this, ice dams can still be a problem and the
solution is to pull the snow down off of the problem areas using a roof
rake.

wrote:
Tube socks filled with the type of salt used to melt ice off of
sidewalks.

Yeah, learned that one last year from this group!

I haven't done this myself but I've heard people have had some luck
placing them above where the ice dams have formed. If you have metal
channels between peaks in your roof you can lay the salt filled socks
in there as well.

Problem for us was that the roof is so steep, they'd slide down and
off.

Next spring, aside from just a new roof you may want to consider
additional venting and insulation in your attic. Insulation
contractors are notoriously shady so be carefull. It's not exactly the
type of work that draws top notch people. If you have it done make
sure they seal around bypasses (plumbing vents and such that extend up
from the lower floors through your roof).

Yep, this is a part of what was quoted to us, per our request. We do
realize this is something we need to do.

If there is no actual attic in your place and it's all finished space,
"dense pack" insulation can be blown in between framing members of your
roof. Even with all this, ice dams can still be a problem and the
solution is to pull the snow down off of the problem areas using a roof
rake.

Yes... someone else suggested a roof rake. Any recommendations?

jen

shinypenny wrote:
wrote:
Tube socks filled with the type of salt used to melt ice off of
sidewalks.

Yeah, learned that one last year from this group!

I haven't done this myself but I've heard people have had some luck
placing them above where the ice dams have formed. If you have metal
channels between peaks in your roof you can lay the salt filled socks
in there as well.

Problem for us was that the roof is so steep, they'd slide down and
off.

Next spring, aside from just a new roof you may want to consider
additional venting and insulation in your attic. Insulation
contractors are notoriously shady so be carefull. It's not exactly the
type of work that draws top notch people. If you have it done make
sure they seal around bypasses (plumbing vents and such that extend up
from the lower floors through your roof).

Yep, this is a part of what was quoted to us, per our request. We do
realize this is something we need to do.

If there is no actual attic in your place and it's all finished space,
"dense pack" insulation can be blown in between framing members of your
roof. Even with all this, ice dams can still be a problem and the
solution is to pull the snow down off of the problem areas using a roof
rake.

Yes... someone else suggested a roof rake. Any recommendations?

jen

I've never used one and don't have a specific recommendation on brand
or type. The one's I have seen are basically made up of a blade
mounted on a long pole angled in such a way that it allows you to pull
the snow down off the roof.

Shingles are more susceptible to damage when cold so I'd be as gental
as possible and not worry about scraping every last bit of snow off.