HawthorneVillager.com

My son just came up from the basement saying there was water coming out of the ceiling. I traced the water to an interior wall on my first floor that is coming down from the roof. I went and shovelled about 5 feet of very wet snow off my roof and the leak has stopped. Now I am going to have to get the roof re-shingled and more than likely rip open that interior wall on my 5 year old Mattamy home.

The problem is ice damming.



There will be allot of that today in new and old homes.

New homes, unless custom built, do not have eve protection.

The Ontario Building Code only requires that they have one sheet of tar paper at the eves over heated areas. This ridiculous requirement is totally inadequate.

Most re-roofs include one row of "Ice and Water Shield", but 2 rows is better. "Ice and Water Shield" is a sticky, thick, sheet that seals over nail holes that go through the shingles that are laid over this protective layer. This material, a metal drip edge, plus good roof ventilation is all you can do to protect your home from Ice Damming.

Andy Shaw - 905 876 4761
http://www.haltoninspections.com

_________________
For Home Inspection services call Andy Shaw at Halton Home Inspection Service. 905 876 4761

We have a Carrington model and apparently this happens to alot of them. On our back roof two sections of roof meet up and there is a line of metal flashing that is supposed to take the water down to the eaves. This metal was covered in about 3 inches of ice that I chipped away. Question for you guys, can I get some kind of roof caulking to seal up the overlap joints in the metal flashing? Could I also seal between the sides of the shingles and the metal? I don't mind doing this myself. This has happened 3 times now and everytime I go up and break the ice off it stops the water coming in right away.

MandM,

There are many contributing factors to ice damming and there is always a chance that any roof could be affected by it under ideal ice dam conditions.

Low sloped roofs over heated areas that have poor ventilation are the most likely roofs to be effected.

All we can do is to well insulate and well ventilate attic spaces as well as using quality roofing materials such as Ice & Water shield at eves.

Here is another picture. What it does not show is that the snow on the roof is melting because heat from the house is migrating through the ceilings into the attic. The dam forms at the eve because there is no heat below the eve. Water gets up under the shingles and drips through into the attic. This water can end up anywhere in the house as it goes through the insulation and lands on the plastic vapor barrier. From there it can leak out above windows or ceiling light fixtures etc.





Canonman,

You should definitely use roof sealant at the seams at the top of this flashing and at the top end of the flashing where it joins the house. As far as sealing at the side where the shingles meet the flashing, this should not be necessary as there should be counter flashing under the exposed metal preventing water from getting behind there.

Good luck with that.

Andy Shaw - 905 876 4761
http://www.haltoninspections.com

_________________
For Home Inspection services call Andy Shaw at Halton Home Inspection Service. 905 876 4761