Ice Dams:

Water Torture For Homeowners

By Nancy K. Crevier

“It’s horrible,” said Pete Wlasuk, owner of Pete’s Plumbing in Newtown, as he finished up his assessment of a client’s problem with a leak. What he referred to was not the leak, but rather the cause of the leak, and a cause that he has seen more times this winter than he cares to say. “Ice damming is giving people a real pain this winter,” said Mr Wlasuk.

In this case, a bathroom vent was warming ice and snow on the roof at its exit point just enough to melt it. The water seeped beneath the shingles and into the attic, where it traveled down between walls and along pipes at the lowest level. It looked like a leaky pipe, but once the ice and snow were removed from the roof, Mr Wlasuk believed the “leak” would disappear.

According to the University of Minnesota Extension website, where ice and snow are a given each winter, an ice dam is “a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow (water) from draining off the roof. The water that backs up behind the dam can leak into a home causing damage to walls, ceilings, and insulation.” It is a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly familiar to Newtown residents, as Mother Nature continues to pile it on this winter, adding a dose of freezing rain in between snowstorms to sweeten the pot.

Goulart Construction, Inc, of Newtown, has been fielding calls from clients referred to them by roofers, said business manager Jan Brown. “This ice damming has brought about a whole new arm of business for us,” she said. Customers are calling in a panic, because water is pouring into their homes, “Like someone turned on a faucet,” said Ms Brown.

Removing the layers of snow and ice that are causing the problems is a very dangerous proposition, however, said Ms Brown. “You have to try to entrench the ladder in the deep snow, and then you have to stand on a ladder that is leaned up against an ice-crusted gutter. Sway your body to the left or right, and it’s a real problem,” she said.

Owner Bruce Goulart has been responding to the numerous calls and trying to help as many people as possible, she said.

Keeping on top of the ice buildup and removing snow is essential to prevent water damage, said Ms Brown. Homeowners should also keep in mind that any moisture that remains in the walls will blossom in next summer’s heat and humidity. “What’s left behind and not tended to could lead to mold and bug problems in the summer,” she cautioned.

John Danise, head sales and project manager for Solimine Construction in Danbury, a full service general contractor, said that in the 20 years he has been in the construction business, he cannot remember a winter with as much snow and cold, so early in the season.

“We are getting so many phone calls from our customers. We are inundated with calls, actually,” said Mr Danise.

Water is coming into homes through the tops of windows and the tops of doors. The large amounts of snow and ice on the roofs is pushing water under the shingles “and mainly, under the soffits, and into the gutter area,” said Mr Danise.

What homeowners need to do is shovel off the roof, and that is a slippery and dangerous activity, even for professionals. “We are taking extra safety precautions with our guys, and we are paying them a little more than usual to do this, because it is so cold and hazardous,” he said.

Homeowners who need to hire a professional to remove snow should be prepared to pay for the service. Solimine sends out a minimum of two workers, for safety reasons, to each job. “I have not seen it take less than an eight-hour day to do the job right,” Mr Danise said. A house that is between 1,500 and 2,500 square feet could cost more than $1,000 to clear, including the cost of ice melt.

The other thing that needs to be done to halt damage from ice damming is to chip away any ice in the gutters, until it is level with the gutter. “Then, drop in ice melt to get it flowing out again,” Mr Danise said. “Put a lot in.”

Where the rooflines tie into different levels there can also be an abundance of ice build up and that should be removed. Knock down icicles where possible.

“It’s been a very unusual winter. We haven’t experienced this before,” Mr Danise said.

 

Roof Rakes

One way to remove snow from a roof is to use a roof rake. At Ace Hardware of Newtown, owner Ed Pitochelli said that the store sold 500 roof rakes over a three-day period. On Tuesday, January 25, another pallet of 100 roof rakes arrived, with many of those already spoken for, Mr Pitochelli said.

Initially, Ace did not have a large number on hand, but when they saw the reports for snow, they brought more in. “We look at the weather in advance, and try to predict what we might need,” he said. The first dozen roof rakes sold out in no time, but because he can get multiple deliveries from the warehouse in Wilton, N.Y. (where more than 50,000 roof rakes have been processed so far this winter), he is able to replace them quickly.

At one point, the demand for roof rakes was so great, that Mr Pitochelli drove three times to the warehouse himself to bring back more rakes and extension handles, as well as ice melt. “Ice melt is another thing we can’t keep up with the demand,” he said.

What has been as frustrating to this shopkeeper as the snow and ice is the fact that the manufacturer has increased the price of the roof rakes in recent weeks. “Is this what we call price gouging?” questioned Mr Pitochelli. He has opted to leave his roof rakes at the same price they have been all season, even though it means he is taking a hit, and plans to contact Ace Corporation about the manufacturer’s increase. “It isn’t right,” he said.

Last year, Newtown Hardware had two roof rakes in stock. “We sold one, and had one left over,” said general manager Joe Summo. But this year, the store could have sold hundreds, said Mr Summo.

“We sold that one rake, got in another dozen, and sold those. We have 54 more coming in Wednesday [January 26], and they are all spoken for. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.

Newtown Hardware is hopeful that they will be able to order more, with winter barely underway, “but even our distributors are out,” Mr Summo said.

Both Ms Brown and Mr Danise said that roof rakes might not be enough to clear away the compacted ice and snow, though. “Roof rakes are good for powdery snow,” said Mr Danise, and Ms Brown pointed out that it is the solid material beneath the snow causing the greatest problems. “It’s what’s underneath that has to be chipped away,” Ms Brown said.