Ice dams and roof raking. A few parts to this. - Saab General Bulletin Board - Saabnet.com
The banner above is an advertisment - if it asks you to download software, please ignore.
Site News -
4/9 Saab Owners' Convention Day Pass Raffle |
3/26 M Car Covers (by State of Nine)
[General |
Members |
C900 |
9000 |
NG900 & OG93 |
93 |
95 |
NG95 |
99 |
Sonett |
Vintage Models |
Clubs |
Other Cars |
FAQs |
Gifts |
Member Photo Galleries |
Member Directory |
Classifieds |
Manuals |
*Buddy Registry |
*Mileage Registry |
Polls |
What's New |
Raffle |
Photo of the Month |
Sponsors]
[Main General Bulletin Board | BBFAQ |
Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ]
Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Ice dams and roof raking. A few parts to this.
Posted by Noel (more from Noel) on Mon, 1 Feb 2016 07:00:06
In Reply to: Ice Dams, Damage - Advise Needed, larry, Wed, 27 Jan 2016 10:16:25
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
There are a few pieces to this issue.
First, you need a lot of insulation in an attic. I live in NH and the foot I have is not enough. A roofer or knowledgeable person at a home center or lumber yard can tell you what is right for your area. The goal is a cold attic, as in not much warmer than the outside air, but this can be hard to achieve in reality. I need another foot--maybe this summer.
Next, to get the attic cold, it has to be well-ventilated, with ridge or gable vents, or individual vents to get warm air out of the attic. A warm attic melts the snow on the roof, and the meltwater then freezes when it runs down and hits the eaves, and that forms ice dams.
Third, you need soffit vents all around the house. These work with the ridge and gable vents let cold air be drawn in by convection to keep the attic colder. After multiple ice dams last winter, I put in soffit vents on our place last summer and fall. Am not finished, but it helps.
Newer houses often have decent soffit vents, but older house (like ours --50 years old) don't. So you get to do it yourself or pay someone. Not hard to DIY, but is tedious. There are multiple options depending on your house.
As for roof rakes, you need to use them properly. Limit your raking to the first 2-3 feet back from the eaves. If you go further, and also have a too-warm attic, you just move the ice dam further up the roof. Have first hand experience with this!
There are other approaches. You can put sheet metal panels that cover your shingles from the eaves back. They are about about 18-24" square. These don't prevent ice dams, but can reduce leaks and make the dams that do form slide off more easily. You can also run hot wires along the edge of the roof. These go back about 18-24 inches and when turned on, prevent the dams from forming. Both approaches eliminate the need to rake the eaves.
Finally, if you have your roof re-shingled, have the roofer put Ice & Water shield from the eaves to 6 feet up the roof. This helps, but ice and water are persistent and you can still get leaks as time goes by.
Good luck!
Posts in this Thread:
- Ice Dams, Damage - Advise Needed, larry, Wed, 27 Jan 2016 10:16:25
- Ice dams and roof raking. A few parts to this., Noel, Mon, 1 Feb 2016 07:00:06 <-- Viewing This Message
- Attic Insulation,Ventilation, Drywall, and Roof Rake, MI-Roger , Wed, 27 Jan 2016 14:27:03
- ventilation/insulation, Snowmobile , Fri, 29 Jan 2016 18:53:05
- Re: Roof Rake, NJWayne, Thu, 28 Jan 2016 08:49:04
- Re: Attic Insulation,Ventilation, Drywall, and Roof Rake, Larry Udoff, Wed, 27 Jan 2016 15:22:38
Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup
Post a Followup
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
StateOfNine.com
|
SaabClub.com
|
Jak Stoll Performance
|
M Car Covers
|
Ad Available
|
Random Saabnet.com Member Gallery Photos (Click Image)
This is a moderated bulletin board - Posting is a privilege, not a right.
Unsolicited commercial postings are not allowed (no spam). Please, no For Sale or Wanted postings, SERIOUSLY.
Classifieds are to be listed in The Saab Network Classifieds pages.
This is a problem solving forum for over 250,000 Saab owners, so expect to see
problems discussed here even though our cars are generally very reliable. This is not an anything goes
type of forum. Saabnet.com has been a moderated forum since 1988. For usage guidelines, see the
Saabnet.com Mission and Purpose Page. Please remember that you are
not anonymous. Site Contact | Site Donations | Other Sites by SP -
Poverty2Prosperity.org | Run Club Menlo Park | ScreenBot
Site Members do not see red text instructions, bottom of the page anchor ads, or box ads.
Click here to see all
the Site Membership Benefits!