Relative Something

Believe it or not, I have been back on the roof again! Even with all the work I did back in December to get my roof cleaned off, this winter has delivered a maximum dose of ice dam forming weather that has forced me back up there to intervene. This time there wasn’t as much snow as before, but the ice has just grown and grown up there. If it snows much in the near future, I’ll have a real disaster on my hands.

I have resorted to the do-it-yourself ice-melt granules in one of Cyndie’s old nylons. From the ground, I could see it was getting pretty thick on the outside edge, but if I didn’t get up there yesterday, I wouldn’t have discovered that there was already standing water behind the dam. I removed the snow cover from the bottom half of the roof, to minimize the source of additional water from melting snow. After chipping away a little channel, I placed my nylon ice melters in two places. If they turn out to do the job, I’ll be begging for more nylons, because I think my problem may require more intervention than just the one spot on each edge of my roof.

Ultimately, I’m thinking this year’s problem with ice dams is a call for improving the insulation in my attic. Unfortunately, I think it’s about time for new shingles, too.