Ice Dams On Roof Without Attic

Heat loss from a house snow cover and outside temperatures interact to form ice dams.

Ice dams on roof without attic. Life of an ice dam. The cold season brings snow packed roofs across the country and with snow melt can come damaging ice dams. Next snow melts on the warm roof and then freezes on the cold eaves. Severe ice dams can weigh many hundreds of pounds compromising the structure of the roof eaves.

If heat doesn t build up in your attic you probably won t have any ice dams. Ice dams and icicles form when the snow melts runs down your roof and refreezes near the edge. It will put gutters and downspouts at risk too. Keeping your roof and attic cold will prevent ice dams because the snow on the roof eventually dissipates without producing a large amount of meltwater.

This scenario is often the result of a warm attic. The underside of the roof deck should not exceed 30 degrees f. Meltwater from the warm roof backs up behind it flows under the shingles and into the house. An ice dam is a hump of ice that forms at the edge of a roof under certain wintertime conditions.

An ice dam can damage both your roof and the inside of your home. First heat collects in the attic and warms the roof except at the eaves. Ask this old house general contractor tom silva explains the best ways to keep your roof and gutters free from those dreaded ice dams. An ice dam is a mass of ice that gathers along the lower edge of rooflines.

Never heat your roof. Without a properly insulated attics however homeowners could find themselves with an ice. They occur in climates with cold winter temperatures and regular snowfall. One way to help prevent heat build up and therefore ice dams is to have a well insulated well ventilated attic.

See below for a shopp. Here s a breakdown of the conditions that lead to the formation of ice dams. Finally ice accumulates along the eaves forming a dam. On metal roofs install snow guards above entrances.

If replacing your home s roof have a self sealing membrane installed under the shingles to help prevent water damage from ice dams. For ice dams to form there must be snow on the roof and at the same time higher portions of the roof s outside surface must be above 32 degrees f freezing while lower surfaces are below 32f. This only occurs when part of your roof warms to above 32 degrees f warm enough to melt the snow while the roof edge remains below freezing. Add insulation to your attic to help prevent your home s warm air from escaping into unheated attic spaces.

Nonuniform roof surface temperatures lead to ice dams.