roof heat coils

[american spirit]

i just moved into a new ranch home. the previous owner put up heat coils on his roof. the roof does not have much slope as with most ranch houses. i was thinking one of the following

1. there is a insulation/ ventilation issue and he was getting ice dams in the winter

2. he used the coils to melt snow just to get the snow off faster to decrease the load of heavy snow on the roof.

3. the guy was just old school and there is no problem.

i always thought heat coils meant roof issues. any recommendations. i might want to add that i have a cathedral ceiling where the coils are. there may or may not be insulation up there. likely R-13 if there is, as the rest of the house was done with that.

[The Dad Fisherman]

I'd go with #2

[stripersnipr]

Are there ridge and soffet vents?

[american spirit]

no ridge vent, but there are soffet vents.

Originally Posted by stripersnipr

Are there ridge and soffet vents?

[stripersnipr]

Originally Posted by the_shocker

no ridge vent, but there are soffet vents.

I would lean towards three, in that case. Pretty easy to confirm though. Don't turn them on during this storm and keep an eye on it.

[american spirit]

thanks.

i know ice dams are a problem and may cause some leakage and wood rot. any recs on things i should do if there are ice dams. the coils seem like a bandaid for a larger problem if that is the case.

[Swimmer]

I would crawl over to the inside of the facia board inside the attic, lift up the insulation, and check for water stains on the wood, and the reverse side of the sheetrock. The go from there. No wtare stains, no problem, just old school.

[Saltheart]

Its definitely to prevent ice damns. We can go ten years without a problem then the right combination of snow , and warm/cold nights and you get one. Interestingly it has only ever happened on the front of my house. back roof is same but i don't get it there. i think its cause the back is always in shade so it doesn't melt and refreeze each night.

The only other alternative for me was to attach a piece of plywood to a long 2x 4 and i rake the snow off the last foot or two.

i wouldn't worry about it. the fact you have the heaters up there means its been addressed in the past.

i think the newer codes require a sheet of asphalt impregnated cloth for the first 3 to 4 feet so even if the melting and freezing occurs , the water won't climb up past it to get in.

[american spirit]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

Its definitely to prevent ice damns. We can go ten years without a problem then the right combination of snow , and warm/cold nights and you get one. Interestingly it has only ever happened on the front of my house. back roof is same but i don't get it there. i think its cause the back is always in shade so it doesn't melt and refreeze each night.

The only other alternative for me was to attach a piece of plywood to a long 2x 4 and i rake the snow off the last foot or two.

i wouldn't worry about it. the fact you have the heaters up there means its been addressed in the past.

i think the newer codes require a sheet of asphalt impregnated cloth for the first 3 to 4 feet so even if the melting and freezing occurs , the water won't climb up past it to get in.

i only have coils on the front of my house as well. i'm going to use a snow rake and keep the snow off the first 4 feet of the roof this winter. and look into a new roof in the spring. it is more than 1/2 it's life anyway.

[gone fishin]

If you are diligent on turning the heaters on when needed you probably will not have any problem. If they are working right you probably will not have to rake snow off. You can see if they are working when you turn them on they will show the track where the wires are installed. I think you are doing the right thing by waiting to see if they are working and taking care fo the roof & gutters in the summer. It will give you a chance to store some scratch for the job.

[tattoobob]

I am not sure if this was said, but the whole problem starts when the snow melts, the snow melts due to no enough insulation in your attic you are having to much heat loss, heat rises.

I would keep the coils till the spring then I would put soffet vents and proper vents if you have vents on each side of the roof peek that should be fine, a ridge vent is better,

It is said that you should have 15 inches of insulation in your attic.

I have been dealing with ice dams in 2 houses for the last 20 years.

[american spirit]

Originally Posted by tattoobob

I am not sure if this was said, but the whole problem starts when the snow melts, the snow melts due to no enough insulation in your attic you are having to much heat loss, heat rises.

I would keep the coils till the spring then I would put soffet vents and proper vents if you have vents on each side of the roof peek that should be fine, a ridge vent is better,

It is said that you should have 15 inches of insulation in your attic.

I have been dealing with ice dams in 2 houses for the last 20 years.

thanks bob. my house is set up a little weird. the living room in the front has a tall slanted catherdral ceiling. so there is no attic space there. and i'm unsure how much insulation was put in that spot during initial construction (1972).

i did have the remainder of the house insulated properly. and installed the proper vents. so the tall ceilig section is the only problem area. but that pretty much runs the entire width of the house.