Re: Beyond finger-crossing: getting through winter with old roof


shinypenny wrote:
> Al Bundy wrote:
> > The steepness of your roof is a good thing from a leak standpoint. Your
> > ice damming problems have more to do with the insulation and
> > ventilation of the roof system. Properly insulated and vented you
> > should have NO ice damming. If all your leaks only come when the ice
> > dams build up, perhaps you don't even need a new roof. You need to
> > address the venting.
> >
> > A properly installed tarp will easily stand a winter blizzard, but
> > again, I think you problem has more to do with lack of venting that
> > allows the dams to form.
>
> I think you're absolutely correct about the insulation and ventilation.
> Which raises and interesting question, since this is a duplex condo:
> would adding insulation be the other owner's responsibility? Clearly a
> new roof is joint responsibility (including replacement of rotten
> boards if necessary), but is this one of those gray areas where it's
> not clear whether it's one of those "outside the house" (joint
> responsibility) or "inside the house" (individual responsibility).
> Hmmm. Does anyone know?
>
The organization I work for has a lot of experience with energy and
ventilation in homes and businesses. I'm just a computer geek, so that
is not my area of expertise. I'm only relaying what I've heard over
time.

Legally I don't know whose responsibility it would be but what the
folks here will say is that when in comes to things like insulation and
ventilation you need to look at the whole building as a system.

Changing insulation in one part of the building can have an adverse
effect on the ventilation in another part. If the house is too tight,
it can create moisture problems among other issues. It's possible the
rotted wood in your roof is from past ice dams and heavy rains but
usually wood that's allowed to dry won't rot. It's when it's
consistantly damp when you run into problems. There might warm moist
air escaping into your attic. We've discovered places where bathrooms
were vented straight into the attic, - bad news.

I guess what I'm saying that what's going now is affecting the
structural integrity of the building as a whole and if adding
insulation and ventilation is what it takes to fix it, then in my
opinion, everyone should pay.


> Not that it probably makes any difference at all.... we would be happy
> to get it all fixed, even though we're not the ones that are suffering
> from major leaks. Our problem from the ice dams has more to do with the
> fact that when they form, they make it hard to open our back door
> because of the weight (I am concerned that eventually the water might
> get into our frame, but so far, it seems okay as I've seen no leaks
> around that area), and the dams are dangerous when they start melting
> and giant blocks of ice are falling off the house.
>
> However, I do think something else is going on than just the ice dams,
> since we also had leaks in the summer when there was no ice at all but
> it rained and rained for days. That's when even our own condo
> experienced some minor leaks - nothing like what our neighbors are
> having, but distressing enough. Just one 3-foot by 6 inch area in the
> corner, underneath one of the neighbor's bump-out windows. It seems to
> be okay ever since we cleared out the gutter on that side, so we
> assumed it was a backed-up gutter issue. However this past weekend when
> we were knocking off ice on that part of the roof, we noted that the
> rake kinda bounced funny in that area... like the wood might be spongy
> underneath?
>
> jen

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Beyond finger-crossing: getting through winter with old roof
    ... > The steepness of your roof is a good thing from a leak standpoint. ... > should have NO ice damming. ... If all your leaks only come when the ice ... > dams build up, perhaps you don't even need a new roof. ...
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  • Re: Beyond finger-crossing: getting through winter with old roof
    ... > placing them above where the ice dams have formed. ... > channels between peaks in your roof you can lay the salt filled socks ... > additional venting and insulation in your attic. ...
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