This is our first winter here in central NJ in a new house. We had a
foot of snow over the weekend and now we're having artic weather.
During the day there is some slight thawing in the sun and everything
refreezes at night. In the corner of an exterior wall inside the
garage water is dripping down inside the wall, dripping out the bottom
behind the drywall, and pooling on the cement floor. (1) How in the
world can the source of this problem be isolated and fixed? (2) If
this is not a do-it-yourself problem (as I suspect it is not in my
case), which building trade would be best qualified to tackle the
trouble-shooting? Thanks for any ideas.

In article ,
A. Barnhard wrote:

This is our first winter here in central NJ in a new house. We had a
foot of snow over the weekend and now we're having artic weather.
During the day there is some slight thawing in the sun and everything
refreezes at night. In the corner of an exterior wall inside the
garage water is dripping down inside the wall, dripping out the bottom
behind the drywall, and pooling on the cement floor. (1) How in the
world can the source of this problem be isolated and fixed? (2) If
this is not a do-it-yourself problem (as I suspect it is not in my
case), which building trade would be best qualified to tackle the
trouble-shooting?

You have to find the source of the water. That is much harder
to do than it sounds. The water can be coming in most any
place and running down structural members, pipes, wires, vents,
etc until it finds it way to that spot. It is most likely
making the drywall and insulation wet. This makes them poor
insulators, and they will mold and rot when it gets warm.

Do you have an ice dam on the roof? Most likely, that ice
dam is causing water to back up and work its way under the
shingles and through the sheeting. Many builders put on an
ice and water barrier under the shingles to prevent this,
but these barriers only go so high up the roof.

You could also have water coming in at the foundation level,
from the roof peak, or from a penetration in the roof.

If this is a brand new house, get the builder out there.
New homes normally have a one year warranty.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

John A. Weeks III wrote:

You have to find the source of the water. That is much harder
to do than it sounds. The water can be coming in most any
place and running down structural members, pipes, wires, vents,
etc until it finds it way to that spot. It is most likely
making the drywall and insulation wet. This makes them poor
insulators, and they will mold and rot when it gets warm.

Do you have an ice dam on the roof? Most likely, that ice
dam is causing water to back up and work its way under the
shingles and through the sheeting. Many builders put on an
ice and water barrier under the shingles to prevent this,
but these barriers only go so high up the roof.


We are currently dealing with ice dams, too. I did a google search and
now know more than I ever wanted to about ice dams. We've mitigated the
ice dam as best as possible for now so it's not getting any worse, and
I do understand what needs to be done to fix it so it doesn't happen
again. (In our case, probably a whole new roof this summer, as the roof
is just plain old).

Meanwhile, my question is, is there anything we should be doing to
limit the damage to the interior of the house? Right now that damage
seems minimal, but I worry as the weather warms up, it could get worse.


The spot with the ice dam is right above our back patio overhang. You
can see that water has built up inside the overhang, as icicles are
forming between the slats and starting to force the slats apart.

Also, there seems to be water inside the patio door frame. From the
outside of the house, there are frozen drips coming from where the
overhang meets the house, and dripping down the patio door. On the
inside of the house, there's also a few drips - but not affecting the
drywall above the door. Rather, it appears water has dripped from
somewhere inside the door frame and down both the inside and outide of
the patio door.

It's not a huge amount of water, but I'm worrying. Especially because
the door has become very difficult to open and close.

I do notice that the water starts slowly dripping late in the afternoon
when we get the most sun. I wonder "is there a ton of ice in the frame
and overhang, that when it melts is going to cause lots more damage?"

Any advice on what we should be doing now, if anything, other than
crossing our fingers and waiting for the next thaw?

jen

My dad's house had major ice dams, on the back extension. Used to be a
screened porch, but someone put in picture windows.

One year, I finally convinced him to let me have at it. A former friend had
a cellulose blower, and so we blew in six bags of fluff. The room was
probably 10 x 20 feet. Can't remember exactly.

And we put in a vent on each end, that was probably 12 x 12 inches.

No more ice dams! No more icicles!

Before that, Dad found that an ice pick worked much better than a hatchet
for cutting a channel in the ice dam. Channel to allow the water to drain
instead of going into the house.

--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


wrote in message
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We are currently dealing with ice dams, too. I did a google search and
now know more than I ever wanted to about ice dams. We've mitigated the
ice dam as best as possible for now so it's not getting any worse, and
I do understand what needs to be done to fix it so it doesn't happen
again. (In our case, probably a whole new roof this summer, as the roof
is just plain old).

Meanwhile, my question is, is there anything we should be doing to
limit the damage to the interior of the house? Right now that damage
seems minimal, but I worry as the weather warms up, it could get worse.


The spot with the ice dam is right above our back patio overhang. You
can see that water has built up inside the overhang, as icicles are
forming between the slats and starting to force the slats apart.

Also, there seems to be water inside the patio door frame. From the
outside of the house, there are frozen drips coming from where the
overhang meets the house, and dripping down the patio door. On the
inside of the house, there's also a few drips - but not affecting the
drywall above the door. Rather, it appears water has dripped from
somewhere inside the door frame and down both the inside and outide of
the patio door.

It's not a huge amount of water, but I'm worrying. Especially because
the door has become very difficult to open and close.

I do notice that the water starts slowly dripping late in the afternoon
when we get the most sun. I wonder "is there a ton of ice in the frame
and overhang, that when it melts is going to cause lots more damage?"

Any advice on what we should be doing now, if anything, other than
crossing our fingers and waiting for the next thaw?

jen

On 29 Jan 2005 08:50:40 -0800, someone wrote:

We are currently dealing with ice dams, too. I did a google search and
now know more than I ever wanted to about ice dams..... Right now that damage
seems minimal, but I worry as the weather warms up, it could get worse.

Well, at this point you need it to get warm so that you can get ride
of all the ice and then maybe run some heating cable until you can do
a better fix.

If there is any ice inside the perimeter of the house, yeah, it would
melt and run out, but typically the problem with an ice dam is that i
directs what is already liquid inside - the ice dam goes, so does the
drainage problem. Run some heaters and fans and/or a dehumidifier in
any damp areas.

Mold is the new panic. 99% of the time the house just dries out, and
99.9% of people aren't bothered anyway. Sure, they have been some
horrors - out of what a hundred million US dwelling units there are
bound to be some. And those houses bother those who have a
sensitivity - kinda like opening a bag of peanuts on an airplane -
dangerous for the allergic person, but no bother to the otheres on
board. Mold is everywhere and nowhere. Spores are pretty universal
but the prolonged conditions to create a problem infestation are rare.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

v wrote:
On 29 Jan 2005 08:50:40 -0800, someone wrote:

We are currently dealing with ice dams, too. I did a google search
and
now know more than I ever wanted to about ice dams..... Right now
that damage
seems minimal, but I worry as the weather warms up, it could get
worse.

Well, at this point you need it to get warm so that you can get ride
of all the ice and then maybe run some heating cable until you can do
a better fix.

Today was above freezing and I'm happy to say the situation hasn't
gotten any worse. We feared the warm up would cause more damage as
outside ice melted, but that hasn't happened, so apparently our damage
control on the ice dam (re-routing its path) has helped.

If there is any ice inside the perimeter of the house, yeah, it would
melt and run out, but typically the problem with an ice dam is that i
directs what is already liquid inside - the ice dam goes, so does the
drainage problem. Run some heaters and fans and/or a dehumidifier in
any damp areas.

Mold is the new panic. 99% of the time the house just dries out, and
99.9% of people aren't bothered anyway. Sure, they have been some
horrors - out of what a hundred million US dwelling units there are
bound to be some. And those houses bother those who have a
sensitivity - kinda like opening a bag of peanuts on an airplane -
dangerous for the allergic person, but no bother to the otheres on
board. Mold is everywhere and nowhere. Spores are pretty universal
but the prolonged conditions to create a problem infestation are
rare.

Yeah, I happen to be allergic to mold; it's the one thing I'm certain
I'm allergic to (there's probably more, but the culprits aren't as easy
to pinpoint). If I walk in our basement, or open a moldy book, or walk
through this one moldy stairwell at work, I start sneezing, nose
dripping, eyes itching, chest contracting, and get massive headaches.

With that said, I'm more concerned about the door frame right now (cuz
mold is something I've learned to live with - it's all around me no
matter what). Do you think it will be okay once it dries out? Right now
it's not opening and closing without a lot of brute force. I worry the
wood is warping.

jen

On 30 Jan 2005 16:39:09 -0800, someone wrote:

Yeah, I happen to be allergic to mold; it's the one thing I'm certain

Sorry to hear about your allergy. Bummer to be allergic to soething
so widespread!

With that said, I'm more concerned about the door frame right now ....
.... Do you think it will be okay once it dries out? Right now
it's not opening and closing without a lot of brute force. I worry the
wood is warping.

Well, it already IS warped from being wet, so don't worry, because if
it will because already has. (And it will likely ease up when it
dries out.) If it doesn't, someone with carpentry skills can deal
later.

What is needed is for it to get warm & get rid of the ice dam, not to
stay cold so as to preserve it forever for fear of what it does in the
transition. No dam = no leakage, the longer the dam stays, the more
leakage.

Though I have a new construction, heavily insulated and well vented
house, one winter there were coincidental conditions (numerous days &
nights hovering just above and below freezing with a lot of
transitions, after heavy snows) that led to widespread ice dams in the
region, and that year we got some. I melted them off with a hose run
from the hot water tank, and we didn't get any leaks.

Good luck, get it dried out promptly and you likely will NOT get mold.

-v.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

Thanks to all of you for these knowledgeable replies. I can see what
I have to do.

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 20:22:37 -0500, A. Barnhard
wrote:

. . . garage water is dripping down inside the wall . . .