For those of you in the south that got heavy snow accumulations

For those of you not in snow country.. Some of you got dumped on..

It pays to get the snow off the 1st 2 feet of the roof. I have a snow rake and get about 4 feet off. But assuming most of you southerners don't have it.

Take a broom and try to get the 2 feet at the bottom of your roofs cleared. It may save you lots of money in rotted wood, or your shop if you have a basement shop.

Years ago the ice damn caused a lot of water to run inside the house and it travelled the joists and soaked a lot of wood and also rusted a lot of stuff.

Just an FYI..

Reply to
woodchucker
Loading thread data ...

Your roof isn't constructed right. If it was, what you describe wouldn't happen.

Reply to
Just Wondering

Yep, I have never worried about it in Canada is the 17 years I have been in this house, never a problem. Those in the deep south do not need to worry, it will all be melted in a couple days anyway.

Reply to
FrozenNorth

Really. Ice damning is a normal occurrence. I do not have an A frame house which is geared to shed the snow much more easily.

But most roofs unless pitched excessively will not shed the snow.

Reply to
woodchucker

So what? If a roof is constructed properly, ice damming will not cause water to do what you describe. There are millions of properly constructed roofs to prove it.

Reply to
Just Wondering

It's the melting and freezing that's the problem. When night comes and it refreezes it creates damns then the water runs under the shingles when it melts again, since it can't go past the ice., and that's when you have problems.

Here in NJ, the roofs generally are pitched for moderate snow. Heavier snows will cause problems.

Reply to
woodchucker

I have never seen an ice dam form in AL. usually or snow events last for

10 hours or so and melt completely in a day or so.

If we have a mini ice age, I'll heed your warning.

What most southerners could really benefit from is rudimentary driving lessons, for instance yesterday there was a little over an inch on the roads, it's cold enough that it is a dry blowing snow over some pack ice on the roads. People drove in the ditches by the tens of thousands. I don't understand it.

I don't claim any great driving skill but I managed to drive 150 plus miles in the same mess without any problems. (in a two wheel drive pickup)

basilisk

Reply to
basilisk

And millions that are not as water tight, so to err on the side of caution is not a bad idea. I have found it really difficult to determine whether it is "constructed right" by looking from the ground.

Mark

Reply to
Markem

Apparently a good many northerners could benefit also?

formatting link

Reply to
Swingman

On 1/29/2014 2:37 PM, basilisk wrote: ...

The primary problem is they simply won't slow down sufficiently enough to even have a half-chance when they do lose it when either

a) somebody in front loses it, b) they try to pass on icy lane and lose it, c) they try to stop themselves

as the primary instigators.

I'm always simply amazed at how many UPS drivers seem no better, nationwide. They must be in the OTR race for rollovers and landing in medians/ditches by an order of magnitude or more compared the rest of the national carrier brands...

We had just a couple of inches Monday night that left a fairly slick surface on the blacktop bypass around town Tuesday. I'd run to town for the mail after shoveling the walks off and doing chores and was about plowed over by an oversize load guy while in the turn lane to make the turn on our road waiting for oncoming. I was getting ready to head on straight and hit the ditch behind the other guy when he did finally manage to straighten it out but wasn't but a few lengths behind me when he did...again, nothing but idiocy of trying to drive 50 in 30 mph conditions. There were enough tracks that even his load rig started swinging from one to another and when he tried to shut 'er down he did it too quickly...very easy to see what was happening; not much of anywhere to go w/ the other one coming over the hill from the south.

Reply to
dpb

Hmm. When I lived in Vermont, it was no problem. The roofs stayed cold enough that ice dams weren't a problem. Well, in the houses that weren't built in the '70s or early '80s.

Here in GA it might be more of a concern. Though we only got a couple of inches of snow and it'll probably all be gone Saturday. The issue was the attic getting warmer than freezing while the eves were colder. Any water then gets "dammed" by the ice over the eves. This shouldn't be a problem, in this case, because the roof will be the same temperature, as it warms. Assuming a ventilated attic and insulation, of course.

Reply to
krw

Properly installed, "water and ice shield", you should be able to see it under the drip edge, where it has been rolled over the fascia ... you just have to get close enough to see if it's there.

It it is over the drip edge, the installation is suspect.

Amazingly enough, we do spec "water and ice shield" in our roofing contracts down here in Texas ... at least those interested in doing things right do.

Reply to
Swingman

I found exactly the opposite, yesterday. People were so scared they wouldn't move. They drove too *slow* (as in stopped) and the snow under them turned to ice. There wasn't a chance to blow lanes clear of pack the snow before it turned to ice. People stopped at the bottom of hills. They're probably still there.

The other big problem is that there are no Winter tires here (myself included) and many are running slicks.

Then there are the truly stupid, like the guy that did a 3-point U-turn in front of me, into a driveway that was declined about 5' in

40'. Of course he was driving a 2WD pickup with no weight in the back. I was also driving a pickup (no weight) but I have good tires and was smart enough to pick the next driveway (flat). Some bozo couldn't even manage that driveway and drove over the person's lawn to get out.

Their trucks don't looks especially good for snow; top and front heavy, with RWD.

I tell people that the "shoulder is your friend" but here there are many places there is no shoulder, only a 20' drop to the woods below.

Reply to
krw

No doubt, there could be some benefit all around the Country. Al has zero requirements for drivers education other than a short written test and a very limited road test. If the parents aren't responsible enough to teach their kids, it is basically here are the keys take off. It ends badly too often.

I'm surprised really that the Northern states aren't worse than shown, considering the amount of snow that they have and the large populations.

Alabama probably averages less than one day a year of snow and ice.

Texas looks high, but on the other hand, the Dallas metro area alone has

1.5 times the entire population of Alabama.

basilisk

Reply to
basilisk

Yep, got behind one going so slow that there was no way they were going to make it over the next hill, I found a nice place to pull over and waited until they were out of the picture before going on.

I do have good mud/snow tires, it helps.

None here either, only on the interstates, not even the US highways have usable shoulders.

basilisk

Reply to
basilisk

On 1/29/2014 3:59 PM, snipped-for-privacy@attt.bizz wrote: ...

That's the problem w/ large portions east of the Mississippi...we're flat (a hill means can't see most all of a passenger car coming, a "big" hill means the combine instead :) ). There's a nice bar ditch along that stretch of highway but narrow shoulders; fortunately it is 3-lane paved and the other guy was under control enough give me enough clearance to get across the turn before he got there---he could also see what was happening and waved me across when he saw me hesitate for the frac I wasn't sure which to try...

The really irritating part is the out-of-control guy was nearly a full half-mile away when I got on in front of him just leaving the light at the intersection where the two highways cross. I turned my signal blinker on while he still had most of that left to modulate with probably 3/8-ths of a mile to go to let him know to time his arrival appropriately. He _still_ hammered it and was over the posted dry- condition 45 mph limit by the time he was nearing I'm sure...not all "pros" are (or at least in any way other than the pay).

Reply to
dpb

Built for southern conditions, then hit with snow, could conseivably cause ide dam problems. We build differently in snow zones.

A "properly constructed" roof in Atlanta or New Orleans would not be built to handle snow and freeze-thaw cycles.

Reply to
clare

But if you now have a nice accumulation of snow and do not "know" go out and do the broom thing, get a bit of exercise too.

If it was my house getting a new roof, I would go for over kill and do the whole roof with "water and ice shield". But the over the eaves and valleys is best building practice for a roof.

My roof does not have any of the shielding, it has had over a foot of snow maybe three times in the 6 years we have been here. It does not leak, it is 3/12 pitch.

Mark

Reply to
Markem

My guy in Bufallo had his office in his house.

At least twice a year his wife would call in and tell us Jim was shoveling off the roof after a storm not only to keep ice dams from forming but also to reduce the snow load on the roof.

Every time we got that call could just visualize Jim loosing his balance and sliding off the roof.

Never happened, but still didn't keep me from sweating the operation out until Jim got back in the house and off the roof.

Housing codes vary all over the country.

You can use an asphalt shingle roof in the North East & Midwest, but they are about as useful as t*ts on a boar hog in the desert SW where tile does a better job.

Different horses for different courses.

Lew

Reply to
Lew Hodgett

On Wed, 29 Jan 2014 14:51:27 -0500, FrozenNorth

What kind of roof do you have that you don't have to worry about ice dams?

Reply to
none

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.