Housing and Community Development

I have a project where the owner has a sheltered front door that gets iced up every winter.  I cant really install heating cables under treads or landing and I have done what I can to limit water from the roof even though ice damming is still and issue (there is a strange snow trap above door).

Questions:  are there are better technologies that you can suggest beyond the electric roof cables that are both illegal in this town and also not long lasting?

Any other sugestions for melting ice on the stone steps?  Have you every used heat lamps?

-------------------------------------------
Christopher Turley AIA
President
Turley Architects, Inc.
Highland Park IL
-------------------------------------------

Hello Christopher,  I live in a snow climate as well.  I have not had this problem, even though we get a lot of snow & ice.  What I typically do at front porch entries is to have a substantial roof overhang, usually 6' of horizontal projection or more.  At the eaves, I provide gutters and downspouts, to redirect the water (and snow melt water) away from the entrance.  Snow and ice dams can be a good thing; I have used copper brackets for this purpose near the eaves on the roof; their purpose is to hold snow and ice until the sun can melt them, to prevent damage to gutters; this also prevent snow and ice from clumping down from the eaves.

In my opinion, anything other than addressing the core problem is a band-aid solution. From what you've stated, it sounds like it's either an insulation problem or venting problem. More than likely it's a combination of both. I assume you know this but if not, ideally you want the exterior roof surface to stay cold thereby keeping snow on the roof until the outside ambient temperature is warm enough to melt it. The problem is coming from within and my recommendation would be to find out why the roof is warming and address that rather than apply a "band-aid" fix. My apologies if this is not the answer you're looking for but the best solution is to avoid the problem. I deal with this issue all the time where I live. Owners don't often like to hear my reccommendations especially if it was their contractor friend who screwed up....somehow I'm still the enemy but I do what's right. Good luck! 

-------------------------------------------
Eric Helgoth AIA
Jackson WY
-------------------------------------------

I agree that anything other than addressing the cause of ice dams is a bandaid. We have long Winters w/ lots of snow here in New Hampshire & it's easy to spot the poorly insulated buildings. Massive ice dams! One two story home not far from my home has ice melt strips @ the eaves & must have little or no insulation, because each year we see 20' long ice hanging from the eaves. This would be entertaining except for the danger of falling ice & excessive energy use.
It's worth mentioning that ice can't always be avoided & that even super insulated buildings can be affected. We skid around on ice throughout the cold season & learn how to cope.... A warm day followed by a quick cool down will make ice.
Of course as architects we can have a dramatic impact on how well a building fares in cold and snow. Simple steep metal roofs with sufficient overhangs help minimize ice damage. Good insulation practices to get that cold roof is very important.

Sincerely,
Dennis

-------------------------------------------
Dennis McNeal AIA
Autodesk, Inc.
Manchester NH
-------------------------------------------






Original Message:
Sent: 03-16-2011 13:05
From: Eric Helgoth
Subject: Ice Melting

In my opinion, anything other than addressing the core problem is a band-aid solution. From what you've stated, it sounds like it's either an insulation problem or venting problem. More than likely it's a combination of both. I assume you know this but if not, ideally you want the exterior roof surface to stay cold thereby keeping snow on the roof until the outside ambient temperature is warm enough to melt it. The problem is coming from within and my recommendation would be to find out why the roof is warming and address that rather than apply a "band-aid" fix. My apologies if this is not the answer you're looking for but the best solution is to avoid the problem. I deal with this issue all the time where I live. Owners don't often like to hear my reccommendations especially if it was their contractor friend who screwed up....somehow I'm still the enemy but I do what's right. Good luck! 

-------------------------------------------
Eric Helgoth AIA
Jackson WY
-------------------------------------------