Saturday, January 31, 2015

Causes And Prevention Of Ice Dams

Causes And Prevention Of Ice Dams

By Ines Flores


Winter has a lot of effects, both negative and positive. However, the bad effects have over time outweighed the positive ones. The negative effects include among others, the formation of ice dams. The dams are accumulations of ice forming on the roofs, thus preventing the water which is melting from roof from draining. This undraining water has a lot of effects, including leaking into the house, causing harms on the walls, ceiling destruction among others. The city of Wauwatosa, WI has been affected by these and the causes and solutions explained below will help assist the residents.

Some continuous events cause these dams. There must be some interactions of atmospheric temperature, house heat loss and snow covers. For the ice dam to form there must exist snow covering the roof, while consequently, the upper roof surface having higher temperature. The lower part should however have a temperature of below 32 degrees Fahrenheit

These temperatures ought be consistent over a long time period. The size of dam is increased by the melting water. Dam size however will be limited by the temperature which is less. The water that has already accumulated finds their way through the cracks which are found on outer roof parts, flowing all through to the attic space. Water will then move to the ceiling and thus staining the finishing the ceiling. Again, snow, , , is the major contributor to such a dam. This happens because snow is an insulator.

The dams are majorly caused by difference in roof surface temperatures. These dams are found mainly at the roof edges. This means that there is a source of heat somewhere. This heat majorly comes from the house through either chimney or otherwise. Solar heat cannot influence this temperature difference.

There are three ways in which heat is transferred to roof surface namely: convection- which is the heat transfer through solid, convection-transfer of heat via air and radiation- heat transfer via electromagnetic waves. These transfers can be evidently seen when heat is transmitted through ceiling or even when you literary put your hand over a hot pan.

Another source of heat is the exhaust system in the kitchen and the bathroom. These particular systems can terminate a roof above them and eventually the heat is going to leak. The continuous use of wood stoves also causes some heat to move up through the chimney and eventually to roofs.

We can however prevent these pandemics by taking some precautions. The first thing we can do is to prevent the heat which comes from the house. However, start with removing all the snow which is on the roof. By doing this you are doing away with the causes of the dams. To remove this snow, use something that will not damage roof.

One can also conduct the long term prevention. This involves making the ceiling of the house to be air tight. Increasing the insulation of roof also helps for long term purposes. This is highly recommended especially when you identify some air leakages. The ventilation in the room are also very important to reduce the amount of heat going up to the ceiling.




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