OT Roofs Leaking

[jibsey]

Skylight leaked stained ceiling, daughter called me last night to say ice dams are causing dripping galore in her house. Happening all over I guess. Very frustrating dealing with leakage because it's difficult to always identify the source. Had ice and water shield installed with new roof last summer. Insurance cover any of this?

 

[CAHUSKY]

Had ice and water shield installed with new roof last summer. Insurance cover any of this?

Insurance and probably your warranty from the roofing company.

 

[CTBasketball]

Ice frozen inside the gutters can cause problems. Not sure how close the skylight is to the edge of the house.

 

[jibsey]

Ice frozen inside the gutters can cause problems. Not sure how close the skylight is to the edge of the house.

The skylight is leaking from the top glass because once the new snow melted off the glass it stopped.

 

[CAHUSKY]

I feel your pain. I had a ton of roof tiles blown off in 85mph winds in Reno on Friday. Also lost a portion of my back fence. Good times.

 

[KingOPancakes]

Most likely the water damage inside would be covered, but not the source of the leak (damaged skylight? shoddy roof installation? who knows). They'll probably pay to have the carpets dried, new sheetrock put up and paint the walls, but you'll probably be on your own to figure out what went wrong with the ice/water shield...

That would be my first call even before insurance. If whoever installed the ice/water shield backs their work at all, you may not need to deal with insurance at all. That would be the best case because the fewer claims you put on your policy the better.

 

[joober jones]

I'm having the same problem. I was going to put in a new roof this summer and decided to wait for a year. Needless to say I'm kicking myself for that now.

 

[jibsey]

My daughter's neighbor had a brand new roof put on in the summer and it's leaking. Ice dams can push up under the edge shingles especially with this kind of snow.

 

[Jay-Bone]

I'm a structural engineer and getting a bunch of calls related to roofs significantly sagging in the south of Boston area. A few have collapsed already. If you have a flat roof, shovel the snow off. More is coming. But be careful while doing it.

 

[sammydabiz]

When in doubt....

 

[BoatShow]

Came into my classroom this morning to find water gushing from the windows ruining tons of stuff. Who knows how long they were leaking for.

 

[UConn Dan]

Get or make a roof rake - only need to clear off the first couple of feet.

Insurance should cover damage caused by ice dams.

 

[jdb50]

Yep, take the time to roof rake what you can reach. Some people get extension ladders out to reach higher roofs, would recommend a standoff to make it a more stable situation. The 3 feet I raked off today were landing with quite a thud on the deck area so there is a lot of weight on our roofs. If you have porches or shed dormers with low pitches it would be smart to shovel some off.

 

[Northbound]

Roof rake good. Ladder with a sledge to break up ice bad. I have to do both because of the angles of converting rooflines and height of structure, plus we use the place on weekends and can't keep up with it as we should. I'll also be ripping up abd replacing the first two rows of shingles or going to a full metal roof this summer.

Roof rakes are the ticket. CleR the first few feet all around the roof as previously mentioned.

 

[CAHUSKY]

hire someone for $20 bucks an hour to shovel the roof. Ive lived in Tahoe for 25 years and that's saved us from any significant damage over the years.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Used to have the same issue at my former house in New Hampshire during a snow winter. Cleaning out the gutters each fall and using a roof rake to clear the roof eliminated the problem for me. Of course, still had to spend another grand to repair the sheet rock inside the house and to mitigate mold.

 

[GlastonTim]

I've always hooked up a hose to the hot side of the washing machine tap and melted the dams with hot water. It takes awhile but doesn't damage the roof. I start by melting channels to let the backed up water escape. Be safe.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

Be careful who you hire to clean off your roof. I had one company damage my roof and another do a great job.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Roof rake good. Ladder with a sledge to break up ice bad. I have to do both because of the angles of converting rooflines and height of structure, plus we use the place on weekends and can't keep up with it as we should. I'll also be ripping up abd replacing the first two rows of shingles or going to a full metal roof this summer.

Roof rakes are the ticket. CleR the first few feet all around the roof as previously mentioned.

The problem is that its mostly too late now. The previous storms had a bit of time to melt and form the dams before we got hit with this last one. So anecdotally, I borrowed a rake Monday and cleared that 1-3' of snow, but the ice damns remain. Knock-on-wood I haven't had leaking yet. It will be interesting if the ice damns melt a bit or if the snow from higher up adds as much as is removed.

 

[jibsey]

I heard a roofing guy say to put no salt ice melt on the dam. is that safe for shingles?

 

[alexd]

I thought this was going to be a thread about Gampel.

 

[UConn Dan]

I heard a roofing guy say to put no salt ice melt on the dam. is that safe for shingles?

No clue if safe for shingles but be sure to put the ice melt inside a stocking so that it doesn't run off

 

[sledog]

That's nothin. This guy has a problem

 

[husky210]

You need a cricket on the high side of your skylight. Also, research your roof contractors. Most of them don't do flashing right at all.

 

[iri10]

In the short term, roof raking soon after the snowfalls is probably a good idea to reduce the size of ice dams.

Long term, see if you can get at the root causes of the ice damming, if you have the time/money/etc. The core of the problem is usually not at the roof level, but in the attic. This article plus the comments is useful information: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/prevent-ice-dams-air-sealing-and-insulation