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Found 49 results for the keyword(s) ‘Ice Dams’

• Article

  I have ice dams over a bay window.

  Sol, from Sudbury, Ontario, has terrible ice dams, as you can see in the photo. They are directly over his bay window. Take a good look at the house design. The bay window comes right out to the edge of the roof, preventing any possibility of any ventilation up over this area. In addition, be...
• Article

  The roof on the new house still leaks -- is it the codes fault?

  Sheila writes from Ottawa : Hi there. I will try to make this as easy as I can however, it may not be.I purchased a brand new home from a very reputable builder in 1999 and took possession in December of that same year. December led into January and towards the end of January I began to experienc...
• Article

  How to melt ice on the roof.

  One viewer has recommended using Urea fertilizer to melt ice on the roof rather than using salt-based de-icers.Actually, the research done, during the famous 1998 Eastern ice storm, confirms this idea. The salt will discolour the shingles and rust the gutters and generally not be good for eith...
• Article

  Eleminating ice dams

  Nancy in Manitoba has bad ice dams on her roof. She sent me a great sketch of her whole attic arrangement, complete with knee walls and cathedral ceilings, not to mention a dormer -- and there is no ventilation in the roof in front of the dormer.The guidelines for eliminating ice dams are sim...
• Article

  WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT ICE FORMATION ON THE EDGE OF THE ROOF?

  Recent research from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has pointed out new priorities for solving ice dam problems. Common practice for years has been to address ice dams with more ventilation. It was when this practice wasn?t working very well that the researchers took a closer look a...
• Article

  Heating Ducts in the Attic & Ice on the roof!

  Ray from Woodstock, Ontario writes:For 20 years we had no ice problems on the roof. Heating was radiant heating in the ceiling. Then we installed a forced air furnace. The contractor ran all the ducts through the attic and we have had terrible ice dams ever since. The contractor refused to...
• Article

  Overview: Attic Moisture

  Ventilation in a Canadian attic does very little to remove moisture when the temperature in the attic is below freezing. During that time, the moisture is in the form of Ice and the passing air simply won't remove it -- whether you have passive vents or power vents. When things warm up, if the ...
• Article

  Speciality soles and shoes -- protecting against slipping and crushing

  We can't walk on water, but we do try to walk on ice   When I first wrote this article in 2009, speciality work stores were about the only place you could buy of any these shoe spikes outside of the Internet.  In 2020 if you live where there is ice on the ground, you can find them in renovati...
• Article

  How to close off a chimney temporarily

  Jacqueline from Red Deer Alberta is trying to figure out how to close up her chimney between periods of using the fireplace, given that her damper is burned out and very difficult to replace. Closing off the top of the chimney There are dampers that go on the top of the chimney and are pulled t...
• Article

  Vent Stack Ice Capping or Evaporation : I GET SEWER ODOURS INSIDE THE HOUSE OCCASIONALLY IN THE WINTER.

    This is one of those problems that are not dealt with seriously enough by the building officials in really cold regions.  I have opened a blog space at the bottom of this article for you to add in your case history so we can demonstrate that this is a large and continuing problem.  Take a look...