When I was young, I remember my parents house always had problems with
ice dams in the winter. The roof was asphalt shingles, and had no
overhang, except for a rain gutter. I remember several times water
would start to drip inside the house, and then my father and me would be
up on a ladder pouring boiling water on them to break them up, while mom
was having a panic attack in the house. Eventually he bought some
electric coils that helped, but were not a complete solution.

I've known this to be a problem for other people too, although the
houses that have a decent overhang (at least one foot), seem to have
less problems with this.

These days, more roofs are being covered with steel roofing, rather than
shingles. I've used it on unheated barns and sheds, but not on a house.
I'm wondering if ice dams are as much of a problem on steel roofs?
Obviously, there are still joints between the sheets of steel, and water
could get in at those joints. Yet, the steel is more slippery and
ice/snow tends to fall off more than on asphalt shingles.

I'll mention that on my barn, several years ago, I did get a buildup of
snow, then some warm weather caused the upper portion of the snow to
melt, and an ice dam did occur at the lower edge. The nice thing about
the steel roof, in a barn with no ceiling below it, is that I just took
a 2x4 and banged the underside of the steel, and the chunks of ice broke
apart. Then a long pole was used to pull them down.

One other thing I should mention in this regard, is that a local
business had a large steel roof, which was above a parking lot. Several
years ago, there was a warm spell during the winter, and a huge block of
ice and snow fell, and actually destroyed a few cars parked below,
(including the car belonging to the owner of the building).

This indicates that the steel roofs have problems of their own, but I
wonder if the ice dams are less of a problem on a heated home?

I've also seen that they sell these plastic things that attach to the
steel roofs that are supposed to keep the ice from falling. I'm not
sure if that's a good idea or not. Plus those things look flimsy....

I'm looking for opinions based on what others have experienced. I'd
much prefer to use a steel roof when I build my small house. It costs
more, but has a much longer life span, and is more durable, not to
mention is much easier to install than shingles.

wrote in message
...
When I was young, I remember my parents house always had problems with
ice dams in the winter. The roof was asphalt shingles, and had no
overhang, except for a rain gutter. I remember several times water
would start to drip inside the house, and then my father and me would be
up on a ladder pouring boiling water on them to break them up, while mom
was having a panic attack in the house. Eventually he bought some
electric coils that helped, but were not a complete solution.

I've known this to be a problem for other people too, although the
houses that have a decent overhang (at least one foot), seem to have
less problems with this.

These days, more roofs are being covered with steel roofing, rather than
shingles. I've used it on unheated barns and sheds, but not on a house.
I'm wondering if ice dams are as much of a problem on steel roofs?
Obviously, there are still joints between the sheets of steel, and water
could get in at those joints. Yet, the steel is more slippery and
ice/snow tends to fall off more than on asphalt shingles.

I'll mention that on my barn, several years ago, I did get a buildup of
snow, then some warm weather caused the upper portion of the snow to
melt, and an ice dam did occur at the lower edge. The nice thing about
the steel roof, in a barn with no ceiling below it, is that I just took
a 2x4 and banged the underside of the steel, and the chunks of ice broke
apart. Then a long pole was used to pull them down.

One other thing I should mention in this regard, is that a local
business had a large steel roof, which was above a parking lot. Several
years ago, there was a warm spell during the winter, and a huge block of
ice and snow fell, and actually destroyed a few cars parked below,
(including the car belonging to the owner of the building).

This indicates that the steel roofs have problems of their own, but I
wonder if the ice dams are less of a problem on a heated home?

I've also seen that they sell these plastic things that attach to the
steel roofs that are supposed to keep the ice from falling. I'm not
sure if that's a good idea or not. Plus those things look flimsy....

I'm looking for opinions based on what others have experienced. I'd
much prefer to use a steel roof when I build my small house. It costs
more, but has a much longer life span, and is more durable, not to
mention is much easier to install than shingles.


Ten years of experience with my first metal roof on a new house gives the
roof an "A" in spite of a problem three years ago with ice dams and a leak.
We average almost 70 inches of snow each winter. As you say so well -- it's
the overhangs that matter. I've only had a problem on the one side where
there is no overhang even though we put a layer of something called "Ice
Guard" under the metal roofing material. "Ice Guard" is a flexible sticky
rubber membrane that self seals and we installed it from the roof edge to
about 3 feet up; but the water, I think, got in right at the edge where the
gutter meets the roof. Anyway, we added gutter heaters and have had no more
problems.

We did put on the cleats (ours were metal) to keep the ice from sliding off
and they've been fine with just an epoxy glue to hold them in place.

The roof itself is trouble free. Nothing has rusted, deteriorated or come
loose, it's quiet (we thought rain noise might be a problem) and has
maintained a light color which reflects the summer sun heat. It's also self
cleaning. One of the reasons, I chose it is because it's easy to mount
clamps and brackets to the standing seams and then mount solar cells without
punching holes in the roof itself. We haven't done the solar thing as yet,
but I see such installations becoming common in the area.

Tomsic

wrote in message ...

When I was young, I remember my parents house always had problems with
ice dams in the winter. The roof was asphalt shingles, and had no
overhang, except for a rain gutter. I remember several times water
would start to drip inside the house, and then my father and me would be
up on a ladder pouring boiling water on them to break them up, while mom
was having a panic attack in the house. Eventually he bought some
electric coils that helped, but were not a complete solution.

I've known this to be a problem for other people too, although the
houses that have a decent overhang (at least one foot), seem to have
less problems with this.

These days, more roofs are being covered with steel roofing, rather than
shingles. I've used it on unheated barns and sheds, but not on a house.
I'm wondering if ice dams are as much of a problem on steel roofs?
Obviously, there are still joints between the sheets of steel, and water
could get in at those joints. Yet, the steel is more slippery and
ice/snow tends to fall off more than on asphalt shingles.

I'll mention that on my barn, several years ago, I did get a buildup of
snow, then some warm weather caused the upper portion of the snow to
melt, and an ice dam did occur at the lower edge. The nice thing about
the steel roof, in a barn with no ceiling below it, is that I just took
a 2x4 and banged the underside of the steel, and the chunks of ice broke
apart. Then a long pole was used to pull them down.

One other thing I should mention in this regard, is that a local
business had a large steel roof, which was above a parking lot. Several
years ago, there was a warm spell during the winter, and a huge block of
ice and snow fell, and actually destroyed a few cars parked below,
(including the car belonging to the owner of the building).

This indicates that the steel roofs have problems of their own, but I
wonder if the ice dams are less of a problem on a heated home?

I've also seen that they sell these plastic things that attach to the
steel roofs that are supposed to keep the ice from falling. I'm not
sure if that's a good idea or not. Plus those things look flimsy....

I'm looking for opinions based on what others have experienced. I'd
much prefer to use a steel roof when I build my small house. It costs
more, but has a much longer life span, and is more durable, not to
mention is much easier to install than shingles.

Lived in Colorado mountains for 13 years. High altitude (10000) feet.
Average snowfall at 300 inches a year. House had shingled roof. Problem with
ice dams and leaks from them. No gutters were used in that area because of
freeze up. I stripped the roofing off and left the tar paper. House was 40
feet long and A frame type roof. Front required 16 foot pieces and rear
required 20 foot pieces. This was a five twelve pitch. Installed steel Pro
Panel type. This solved the leaks. When the snow built up to 2 or 3 feet, I
used a T setup (10 feet of 1/2 inch metal conduit and a 3 foot 2 x 4..I
would reach up and pull off snow about 2 or 3 feet of the edge snow. It
would come off easy. In a day or 2 the rest would slide to the edge and I
would repeat the removal again. Never had a snow slide because temps would
be below zero most nights. Did the entire job in 3 days. WW

On Thu, 3 Jan 2013 14:30:06 -0500, "=" wrote:



Ten years of experience with my first metal roof on a new house gives the
roof an "A" in spite of a problem three years ago with ice dams and a leak.
We average almost 70 inches of snow each winter. As you say so well -- it's
the overhangs that matter. I've only had a problem on the one side where
there is no overhang even though we put a layer of something called "Ice
Guard" under the metal roofing material. "Ice Guard" is a flexible sticky
rubber membrane that self seals and we installed it from the roof edge to
about 3 feet up; but the water, I think, got in right at the edge where the
gutter meets the roof. Anyway, we added gutter heaters and have had no more
problems.

We did put on the cleats (ours were metal) to keep the ice from sliding off
and they've been fine with just an epoxy glue to hold them in place.

The roof itself is trouble free. Nothing has rusted, deteriorated or come
loose, it's quiet (we thought rain noise might be a problem) and has
maintained a light color which reflects the summer sun heat. It's also self
cleaning. One of the reasons, I chose it is because it's easy to mount
clamps and brackets to the standing seams and then mount solar cells without
punching holes in the roof itself. We haven't done the solar thing as yet,
but I see such installations becoming common in the area.

Tomsic


Thanks for the reply. I think you covered all I wanted to know, and
more..... That "Ice Guard" seems like a good investment and I can see
how that would assist with any water that might get under the metal.
I was not aware they made anything like that.

The steel roof on my barn is just the steel screwed to 2x4s. It's
really not that noisy for rain, but hail is another story!!!
But it's a barn, and the animals get used to it.

On Thu, 3 Jan 2013 20:09:02 -0700, "WW"
wrote:



wrote in message ...

When I was young, I remember my parents house always had problems with
ice dams in the winter. The roof was asphalt shingles, and had no
overhang, except for a rain gutter. I remember several times water
would start to drip inside the house, and then my father and me would be
up on a ladder pouring boiling water on them to break them up, while mom
was having a panic attack in the house. Eventually he bought some
electric coils that helped, but were not a complete solution.

The "complete solution" to ice dams is proper insulation and
ventilation. The idea is to keep the roof the same temperature as the
air. "Ice shield" is in insurance.

I've known this to be a problem for other people too, although the
houses that have a decent overhang (at least one foot), seem to have
less problems with this.

These days, more roofs are being covered with steel roofing, rather than
shingles. I've used it on unheated barns and sheds, but not on a house.
I'm wondering if ice dams are as much of a problem on steel roofs?
Obviously, there are still joints between the sheets of steel, and water
could get in at those joints. Yet, the steel is more slippery and
ice/snow tends to fall off more than on asphalt shingles.

"Standing seam" roofing has ridges on/between the seams. It would
take a hell of an ice dam to breach the seam. Again, the real
solution is to keep the roof deck the same temperature as the outside
air. This is even easier with a metal roof.

I'll mention that on my barn, several years ago, I did get a buildup of
snow, then some warm weather caused the upper portion of the snow to
melt, and an ice dam did occur at the lower edge. The nice thing about
the steel roof, in a barn with no ceiling below it, is that I just took
a 2x4 and banged the underside of the steel, and the chunks of ice broke
apart. Then a long pole was used to pull them down.

Was it leaking between horizontal seams or vertical? It shouldn't
have leaked at all, but my guess is that your barn is quite a bit
warmer than the outside air.

One other thing I should mention in this regard, is that a local
business had a large steel roof, which was above a parking lot. Several
years ago, there was a warm spell during the winter, and a huge block of
ice and snow fell, and actually destroyed a few cars parked below,
(including the car belonging to the owner of the building).

That's not uncommon. In Vermont, there were signs advising people
that " parking here" was dangerous. In some places they put up
barricades where ice was known to fall.

This indicates that the steel roofs have problems of their own, but I
wonder if the ice dams are less of a problem on a heated home?

Properly insulated, there should be no problems with ice.

I've also seen that they sell these plastic things that attach to the
steel roofs that are supposed to keep the ice from falling. I'm not
sure if that's a good idea or not. Plus those things look flimsy....

It probably is a good idea above your porch/sidewalk. Your insurance
company might appreciate them. ;-) OTOH, you've admitted that you
know it's a problem. :-(

I'm looking for opinions based on what others have experienced. I'd
much prefer to use a steel roof when I build my small house. It costs
more, but has a much longer life span, and is more durable, not to
mention is much easier to install than shingles.

It's harder to install right. A monkey can (and usually does) install
shingles.

Lived in Colorado mountains for 13 years. High altitude (10000) feet.
Average snowfall at 300 inches a year. House had shingled roof. Problem with
ice dams and leaks from them. No gutters were used in that area because of
freeze up. I stripped the roofing off and left the tar paper. House was 40
feet long and A frame type roof. Front required 16 foot pieces and rear
required 20 foot pieces. This was a five twelve pitch. Installed steel Pro
Panel type. This solved the leaks. When the snow built up to 2 or 3 feet, I
used a T setup (10 feet of 1/2 inch metal conduit and a 3 foot 2 x 4..I
would reach up and pull off snow about 2 or 3 feet of the edge snow. It
would come off easy. In a day or 2 the rest would slide to the edge and I
would repeat the removal again. Never had a snow slide because temps would
be below zero most nights. Did the entire job in 3 days. WW

Sounds like your insulation/ventilation wasn't up to snuff.

On Jan 4, 6:53*am, wrote:
On Thu, 3 Jan 2013 20:09:02 -0700, "WW"
wrote:



wrote in messagenews:uucbe812s14r4ugohhifgirf4h25s44428@4ax .com...

When I was young, I remember my parents house always had problems with
ice dams in the winter. The roof was asphalt shingles, and had no
overhang, except for a rain gutter. *I remember several times water
would start to drip inside the house, and then my father and me would be
up on a ladder pouring boiling water on them to break them up, while mom
was having a panic attack in the house. *Eventually he bought some
electric coils that helped, but were not a complete solution.

The "complete solution" to ice dams is proper insulation and
ventilation. The idea is to keep the roof the same temperature as the
air. "Ice shield" is in insurance.

I've known this to be a problem for other people too, although the
houses that have a decent overhang (at least one foot), seem to have
less problems with this.

These days, more roofs are being covered with steel roofing, rather than
shingles. *I've used it on unheated barns and sheds, but not on a house.
I'm wondering if ice dams are as much of a problem on steel roofs?
Obviously, there are still joints between the sheets of steel, and water
could get in at those joints. *Yet, the steel is more slippery and
ice/snow tends to fall off more than on asphalt shingles.

"Standing seam" roofing has ridges on/between the seams. *It would
take a hell of an ice dam to breach the seam. *Again, the real
solution is to keep the roof deck the same temperature as the outside
air. *This is even easier with a metal roof.

I'll mention that on my barn, several years ago, I did get a buildup of
snow, then some warm weather caused the upper portion of the snow to
melt, and an ice dam did occur at the lower edge. *The nice thing about
the steel roof, in a barn with no ceiling below it, is that I just took
a 2x4 and banged the underside of the steel, and the chunks of ice broke
apart. *Then a long pole was used to pull them down.

Was it leaking between horizontal seams or vertical? *It shouldn't
have leaked at all, but my guess is that your barn is quite a bit
warmer than the outside air.

One other thing I should mention in this regard, is that a local
business had a large steel roof, which was above a parking lot. *Several
years ago, there was a warm spell during the winter, and a huge block of
ice and snow fell, and actually destroyed a few cars parked below,
(including the car belonging to the owner of the building).

That's not uncommon. *In Vermont, there were signs advising people
that " parking here" was dangerous. *In some places they put up
barricades where ice was known to fall.

This indicates that the steel roofs have problems of their own, but I
wonder if the ice dams are less of a problem on a heated home?

Properly insulated, there should be no problems with ice.

I've also seen that they sell these plastic things that attach to the
steel roofs that are supposed to keep the ice from falling. *I'm not
sure if that's a good idea or not. *Plus those things look flimsy....

It probably is a good idea above your porch/sidewalk. *Your insurance
company might appreciate them. *;-) *OTOH, you've admitted that you
know it's a problem. *:-(

I'm looking for opinions based on what others have experienced. *I'd
much prefer to use a steel roof when I build my small house. *It costs
more, but has a much longer life span, and is more durable, not to
mention is much easier to install than shingles.

It's harder to install right. *A monkey can (and usually does) install
shingles.

Lived in Colorado mountains for 13 years. High altitude (10000) feet.
Average snowfall at 300 inches a year. House had shingled roof. Problem with
ice dams and leaks from them. No gutters were used in that area because of
freeze up. I stripped the roofing off and left the tar paper. House was 40
feet long and A frame type roof. Front required 16 foot pieces and rear
required 20 foot pieces. This was a five twelve pitch. Installed steel Pro
Panel type. This solved the leaks. When the snow built up to 2 or 3 feet, I
used a T setup (10 feet of *1/2 inch metal conduit and a 3 foot 2 x 4...I
would reach up and pull off snow about 2 or 3 feet of the edge snow. It
would come off easy. In a day or 2 the rest would slide to the edge and I
would repeat the removal again. Never had a snow slide because temps *would
be below zero most nights. Did the entire job in 3 days. *WW

Sounds like your insulation/ventilation wasn't up to snuff.

is correct, nearly all ice dam problems are
insulation/ventilation issues.
Keep the roof uniformly cold and you'll seldom get ice dams.

The real killer is a cold over hang area & an "upstream" roof area
that "leaks" heat from the house / attic.

Cutesy architectural features are a problem as well.

I'm looking for opinions based on what others have experienced. I'd
much prefer to use a steel roof when I build my small house. It costs
more, but has a much longer life span, and is more durable, not to
mention is much easier to install than shingles.

It's harder to install right. A monkey can (and usually does) install
shingles.

Lived in Colorado mountains for 13 years. High altitude (10000) feet.
Average snowfall at 300 inches a year. House had shingled roof. Problem
with
ice dams and leaks from them. No gutters were used in that area because of
freeze up. I stripped the roofing off and left the tar paper. House was 40
feet long and A frame type roof. Front required 16 foot pieces and rear
required 20 foot pieces. This was a five twelve pitch. Installed steel Pro
Panel type. This solved the leaks. When the snow built up to 2 or 3 feet, I
used a T setup (10 feet of 1/2 inch metal conduit and a 3 foot 2 x 4..I
would reach up and pull off snow about 2 or 3 feet of the edge snow. It
would come off easy. In a day or 2 the rest would slide to the edge and I
would repeat the removal again. Never had a snow slide because temps would
be below zero most nights. Did the entire job in 3 days. WW

Sounds like your insulation/ventilation wasn't up to snuff.

You are right. I was 2nd owner of house. When I installed the sheets the set
up had a cap on the peak that allowed the air to rise up the ribs on the
sheets and vent out the ends. This kept the roof cold. WW

On Jan 4, 8:53*am, wrote:


The "complete solution" to ice dams is proper insulation and
ventilation. The idea is to keep the roof the same temperature as the
air. "Ice shield" is in insurance.


A weird thought passed my mind - would steel roofs have any advantage
to getting a coat of automotive wax in late fall/early winter? I was
just thinking of how much better cars shed water when waxed.

And speaking of that I've seen steel roofs with overhanging oak trees
that get bad cases of mildew & grime. How would one get nasty stuff
like that off the steel?

A weird thought passed my mind - would steel roofs have any advantage
to getting a coat of automotive wax in late fall/early winter? I was
just thinking of how much better cars shed water when waxed.

* * * *

A good sheet of steel gets up to 11 different separate coatings. I would
think that the steel companies would have something on the outer layer to
make snow sluff off in snow areas. Mebbe not.

Steve