[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Jif


The ice dams occur when the snow on your roof gets too deep and acts as insulation from the heat leakage that would normally pass through your roof...
What is happening is the heat leakage is melting the snow on your roof and forming puddles of water under the snow...The ice dams occur on the over hangs because they remain frozen while the escaping heat warms the roof farther up torwards the peak...
under the snow...and puddles of water form under the snow ,but can't run off the roof because of the ice dams..and the water then backs up under the shingles..
Solution at this point.....Remove the snow....end of problem...Keep it to a couple of inches...max that will keep the roof frozen...
Long term soultion...
Install styrofoam vents between rafters and roof where the outside wall meets the roof...This gives the outside air a path and the air circulating from the sofits to the upper roof vents and keeps the roof frozen...Insulate your atic insuring that the insulation does NOT touch the upper roof....
If it does ,hot spots occur at times such as these and water will gather under the snow....
Solution #2 install roof heaters in a progressive V pattern along your roof so that it so that the heaters extend an inch over the edge of the roof and a foot back from where the outer wall meets the roof...normally 3' back from the roof edge..
Plug them in every couple of days to cut the ice dam...You would be suprized at the water that comes off the roof when the heaters have been on for an hour or two..Gallons....!!!
Been there ..done that...
Get the snow off as fast as you can for now..that will stop the leaking....
Good job for the young lad and the empress..as you point out the areas to be cleaned off using your long necked brown pointer from the forward Ob.post,located 50' back in the cab of your half ton....