Guide to Ice Damming and Vaulted Ceilings

Ice damming and vaulted or cathedral ceilings is no big surprise. The first homes built in cold weather climates which had vaulted ceilings were more likely to get ice damming. The houses in the 70s that had these ceilings allowed to much heat to escape out of the house. When this occurs it melts the snow that is on the roof. The snow on the roof melts to quickly and then runs to the gutter. When it gets closer to the gutter it cools quickly. Then it turns to ice and starts to build. The ice will then start to work its way back up the roof and into the house and melt again. Many people don’t understand that ice dams are made up of multiple parts. Let’s take a looks at these parts.

I will use a client call from last week to address this problem of ice damming and vaulted ceilings or cathedral ceilings. This individual called us in need of relief from water or ice freezing on his roof line and building more and more. The house even had ice and dam shield installed all the way up the roof, which by the way is a costly option when doing your roof. So, we know this person has a new roof which rules out a bad roof, allowing water into the house. It is also important to hire a roofing company that has been around for awhile. There are a ton of guys who do roofing and give some really great prices, but you get what you pay for. When work was being done on this clients house it was found the ice and dam shield was not installed correctly around areas that have flashing. Flashing is metal pieces that go along edges and around openings in the roof and is also used around other openings on a house.

The story does not end here. The flashing was fine for rain, but it allowed ice to get under the ice and dam shield. The point of ice and dam is to keep water out. The client did not understand how it was possible to get water in the house when the money was paid for the new roof and ice and dam shield. I still say when putting on a new roof you want to apply ice and dam, you don’t have to go that far up. So, we found one problem here already. Next, the client had vaulted ceilings in a house built in the 70s. You don’t have much space between the ceiling and the roof. Vaulted ceilings in some cases was known to trap moisture in between the drywall of the ceiling and the roof boards. This would then result in the drywall breaking down or roof boards rotting. Now, vapor barriers help to control this. The roof boards are not protected from the vapor barrier as it is applied on the inside of the house in cold climates. The vaulted ceilings have come a long way since the early ones.

This client even had new venting installed. The venting of a roof is a critical part of ice dams. Air in the attic area most be able to flow to keep a temperature close to what the outside temperatures are. There are u shaped pieces that go between the roof support boards. This allows the air to travel from the eve vents up to the vents in the roof. Blocking of this air or venting does not allow the temperature to stay close to the out side temps. During the winter the house is being heated and that heat warms the area and starts melting the snow on the roof. Again, once the warm air melts the snow, it moves to the gutter and then freezes when it gets close to the gutter and in the gutter. Along with the air being warm, if you do not have enough insulation in the area, this will allow more hot air to escape from the house. This is the other critical part of ice dams. Be careful when adding more insulation that you do not block the eve vents. This happens to people who try to insulate their homes and do not know not to block this air way.

So, the two critical parts that cause ice damming is, venting and insulation in the attic or roof area. Luckily for the client that had this problem, they had installed a foam gutter protection insert. They had installed the Gutter Care II system. The only part of the roof that was not frozen was the clients gutters. Please, be careful there are many knock offs which try to duplicate this product. This product holds no water in it, so ice can not freeze in it. People have a hard time understanding that, if you have debris in your gutters it will freeze in solid chunks of ice. This is why people think ice damming is caused by the gutter system when as a whole, it is not. Don’t get me wrong if you don’t keep you gutters free from leaves and twigs you will get ice damming, but it is not always the cause. Plugged gutters don’t allow water to get off the roof and then freezes in the the plugged gutters. The Gutter Care II system is black and is normally one of the first areas not to be snow covered on a roof. Unlike metal screens or lids hold the cold more. Obviously metal during cold weather is much colder to the touch then foam, again metal conducts the cold and holds it. This is very simple science. The color black draws the heat of the sun and is a well known fact. For instance, how many white solar panels have you ever seen?

I am a expert in the area of gutter protection and ice damming. I am not hiding that fact at all. I have researched and have only found the foam inserts to be the most affective against plugged gutters. I have found other home improvement experts who also believe the foam inserts to be the most affective gutter protection system out there. We may not endorse the exact same brand, but we agree they work the best. The problem with the cheap foam inserts, knock offs, is they don’t last. They break down over time and fall apart. So, there I said it, but I let the science side of things explain it, not a sales pitch. The facts are just that, the facts. I have foam inserts in my gutters and have not had to clean or touch my gutters at all. I also ask people to show me any product and prove the product can keep the gutters free of debris. Keeping your gutters protected is needed to help reduce ice damming on your house, no matter what type or roof or ceilings you have. Again, plugged gutters can only be part of a much larger, multiple house problem with concern to ice damming. Again, this is not a sales pitch, just showing what helps to stop ice damming and what causes it.

So, in the end the only part which wasn’t frozen solid on the clients roof was the gutter protection system. The ice had to be removed from the roof. The roof had been updated with venting and supposed venting through the vaulted ceiling. The only solution was to add heat coils in the area where ice was going up the roof. We had another client who had plugged gutters and vaulted ceilings and the application of the the gutter protection and heat coils solved the problem. Please remember you must address the issues of venting and insulation first as the first part of the the problem. Then you need to have gutter protection. These are the critical parts of ice damming. The heat coils can also be called de-icing cables. To each their own. Identify your true problem before you go hiring someone to do alot of expensive work. I have spent countless hours investigating individuals houses and their house problems. Research your problems and know a little about your problem. Sometimes a little hard to do when you have water pouring in through your ceilings and walls.

I hope this has helped some of you with your ice damming problems. If you would like to present your current problem to me, please feel free to email me. As always safety first with any house projects.