Roof Leak After Snow

In order to avoid melting snow and roof leaks you need to have very good insulation ventilation and an effective air barrier.

Roof leak after snow.

This keeps the warm air in and the roof at a constant temperature thus eliminating melting snow and roof leaks from occurring. The cold weather turns the super chilled water to ice and the ice pack begins to get thicker and thicker creating a dam quite like hoover dam but a much smaller. The steeper your roof pitch the more ice it takes to create interior leaking see ice dam case study 09. An ice dam occurs when snow melts and the water freezes when it hits the colder edges of your roof.

Rotten or missing trim or siding can allow water to leak behind flashing and into your roof. This roof leaks during the snowy part of winter and during storms in the summer certainly due to poor flashing. Likewise a heavy blanket of snow can hide the significance of an ice dam making it hard to ascertain it s size. Heat leaking up from your home is melting the snowpack in the tight roof canyon.

Worn out flashing or missing sealant can also cause roof leaks around dormers. The roof leaked a few days after a foot of snow had fallen. In the photo you can still see signs of an ice dam. If you have a low slope roof area accumulations as little as 1 thick can cause problems.

A roof leak at the edge of a dormer can allow a lot of water to enter your home. It was warm enough for the snow to melt during the day but it would drop below freezeing at night. When i checked the roof i saw all the snow had fallen off the two story roof and landed on the addition. Dormer leaks can be caused from a number of issues.