BG Hawks Posted January 24, 2011 Share #1 Posted January 24, 2011 Was going to jump in the shower this morning to get ready for church. Long story short noticed that I had a leak. Determined that it was coming from the roof which means I had another ice jam to take care of. Still makes me mad that the company I hired and paid good money to install my gutters did not do anything but hang them where the old ones were. If I wanted a crummy job I would have done it my self! Boy do I feel better now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBJ Posted January 24, 2011 Share #2 Posted January 24, 2011 GLAD WE COULD HELP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG TOM Posted January 24, 2011 Share #3 Posted January 24, 2011 Long story short noticed that I had a leak. QUOTE] If it makes you feel any better, My family room ceiling is leaking at this very moment........yep ...ice in the gutters........ :bang head: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Annie Posted January 24, 2011 Share #4 Posted January 24, 2011 There ya go....a fellow ventee:thumbsup2: How's that for friendly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wes0778 Posted January 24, 2011 Share #5 Posted January 24, 2011 ice in the gutters........ :bang head: But Tom, don't you know ice belongs in TEA, not in gutters!!! :rasberry::rasberry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mraf Posted January 24, 2011 Share #6 Posted January 24, 2011 But Tom, don't you know ice belongs in TEA, not in gutters!!! :rasberry::rasberry: A blatant reminder of the laws of the south!:rotfl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N3FOL Posted January 24, 2011 Share #7 Posted January 24, 2011 I hope you can get that leak taken care as soon as possible. That deserves a priority # 1 come Monday morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yammer Dan Posted January 24, 2011 Share #8 Posted January 24, 2011 Haven't seen my roof in a while. More snow this week!!!:crying::crying: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongobobny Posted January 24, 2011 Share #9 Posted January 24, 2011 Why were you taking a leak on the roof??? Seriously, what you need to install is a heat tale in the gutter to keep the water flowing. Your contractor probably just replaced your damaged gutters without fixing the source of the previous damage. It's not the fault of the gutter installation of where they are, it's ice buildup! Sooo, why is the snow melting in the first place? Heat loss from the attic due to poor insulation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG Hawks Posted January 24, 2011 Author Share #10 Posted January 24, 2011 Sorry to hear about your leak Big Tom. I feel your pain. I have plenty of insulation in the attic. When I put a new roof on I replaced the gutters. I told them not to use location of existing gutters because they do not drain properly. What happens is that it ice builds up. If snow covers the ice it will melt under the snow. I clean off the snow and take my heat gun up and melt and carefully chip ice out of the gutters. After a rain you can go up on my roof and see water sitting in the gutters. This was several years ago when all this has taken place. I'm going to fix it this spring once and for all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiCarl Posted January 24, 2011 Share #11 Posted January 24, 2011 Ice dams aren't caused by the gutters. What happens is warm air in the attic melts the show and when the water runs down over the cooler eave or gutter it freezes. Snow is an excellent insulator, when it's deep it'll trap enough heat to melt the layer against the roof. That's why ice is more of a problem when there's a lot of snow on the roof and not so much with only an inch or two. The correct way to deal with the problem is to improve the insulation and/or attic ventilation. Unfortunately those can get expensive. You can put a band-aid on the problem by raking deep snow off the lower portions of the roof (you can make a roof rake or buy them at Home Depot etc.) or by using heat tape. I've got a room that was formerly a back porch. The roof has a very low pitch and the rafters end right at the outside wall. So there are no eave vents, only room for minimal insulation where the roof meets the wall and it's flat enough any water that backs up comes right in. Because of the configuration and how it meets the rest of the house changing it would be a major expense so I use heat tape on it. I had poor luck with heat tape in the gutter so I reconfigured it so the tap hangs over the gutter. The gutter still fills with ice, but after that the water runs over and falls to the ground. Makes great icicles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eusa1 Posted January 24, 2011 Share #12 Posted January 24, 2011 put heat tapes on the inside of the gutters and your problem is solved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJoe Posted January 24, 2011 Share #13 Posted January 24, 2011 (edited) They make heat tape kit especially for Ice Dams. It is installed in a zigzag pattern parallel to the outer edge on the roof with aluminum clips If you can vent your attic more (beside area that is damming) the problem will go away. But to fix it now: get a heavy pair of gloves long water hose connect it to bottom of hot water heater get a ladder unless your lucky enough to have a low sitting rancher every 15 feet or so melt the ice down to the shingles about 3 -4 " wide and about 4' long perpendicular to the outer lower edge of house. Alternate fix: take a hatchet and very carefully chop a channel. Regardless how you do it you have to provide a path for the water so it cannot back up. An ice dam traps water starting at the gutter and extends quite a few feet back towards the peak of the roof. As the snow/ice melts it gets trapped between the outer ice and the gutters, when it hits the top edge of the 3" wide roof felt.....It leaks! I use to cut channels on my rancher with the hot water method a couple times a year. Oh, on more thing I almost forgot. Last time I was at Lowes to buy shingles the manager looked at me kind of funny when I ask for the roof felt. He said it was uNnecessary... Well in my humble it is very necessary as these ice dams will testify. I'd never shingle a roof without felting it first. Edited January 24, 2011 by CaptainJoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvester Posted January 24, 2011 Share #14 Posted January 24, 2011 I haven't had any problem with ice build-up and frozen gutters since I left Nebraska. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiCarl Posted January 24, 2011 Share #15 Posted January 24, 2011 They make heat tape kit especially for Ice Dams. It is installed in a zigzag pattern parallel to the outer edge on the roof with aluminum clips If you can vent your attic more (beside area that is damming) the problem will go away. But to fix it now: get a heavy pair of gloves long water hose connect it to bottom of hot water heater get a ladder unless your lucky enough to have a low sitting rancher every 15 feet or so melt the ice down to the shingles about 3 -4 " wide and about 4' long perpendicular to the outer lower edge of house. Alternate fix: take a hatchet and very carefully chop a channel. Regardless how you do it you have to provide a path for the water so it cannot back up. An ice dam traps water starting at the gutter and extends quite a few feet back towards the peak of the roof. As the snow/ice melts it gets trapped between the outer ice and the gutters, when it hits the top edge of the 3" wide roof felt.....It leaks! I use to cut channels on my rancher with the hot water method a couple times a year. Oh, on more thing I almost forgot. Last time I was at Lowes to buy shingles the manager looked at me kind of funny when I ask for the roof felt. He said it was uNnecessary... Well in my humble it is very necessary as these ice dams will testify. I'd never shingle a roof without felting it first. I had a problem pulling water from the bottom of the heater. Because cooler water settles to the bottom and hot rises I was pulling cooler water out. Meantime the burner kept running so the top kept getting hotter until the relief valve blew. That can create a problem if your water heater is in a finished area (like mine). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJoe Posted January 24, 2011 Share #16 Posted January 24, 2011 (edited) Disconnect your washing machines Hot water hose from the faucett and connect the garden hose to it... I didn't have had a problem getting it out of my gas hot water tank. You could however end up getting calcium in the hose if you have hard water... Edited January 24, 2011 by CaptainJoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongobobny Posted January 24, 2011 Share #17 Posted January 24, 2011 Oh Oh!! This is turning into a "How many Ventureriders does it take to screw in a lightbulb" thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiCarl Posted January 24, 2011 Share #18 Posted January 24, 2011 Oh Oh!! This is turning into a "How many Ventureriders does it take to screw in a lightbulb" thread... There's too much of me to screw in a light bulb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJoe Posted January 24, 2011 Share #19 Posted January 24, 2011 " Oh Oh!! This is turning into a "How many Ventureriders does it take to screw in a lightbulb" thread... " Couple of questions first: While sitting On my bike? Where's the bulb? How many rooms do you have to go thru to get to the bulb? Are your doors at least 36" wide??? My bikes pretty big... Too many questions......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG TOM Posted January 25, 2011 Share #20 Posted January 25, 2011 I already have to repair the ceiling in the family room.....think I wait till the spring and remove the gutters completely on that area....I have a pond beneath it ....the rain coming off the roof will at least keep the pond full:rotf:...who needs gutters anyway ? ACTUALLY, You are correct about the insulation...the area in question is adjacent to my garage . I drywalled the ceiling in the garage and never insulated it...My garage is heated.....Hence the heat loss.......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie Annie Posted January 25, 2011 Share #21 Posted January 25, 2011 You could always wait till Quickstep arrives Very handy with his tools "Hammer & Nails" M&E???????:confused24: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IH Truck Guy Posted January 29, 2011 Share #22 Posted January 29, 2011 You needed to put down "Ice and Water shield" before you put on the new roof.. A rubber membrane that sticks to the roof deck.. Any ice dams that occur will stay on top of the rubber and not get in the house... You can look at any house a couple of days after a snow and see which ones have heat loss... No heat loss=no ice dams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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