Snow and Ice Damage to House

[Purron]

I discussed this on the "weather is awful" thread, but thought I'd start a new one in case any one else is going through this. Our home was damaged by the recent snow storms. I've attached a picture. After talking DH out of getting up on the roof I called Nationwide and reported the loss. Luckily, no damage appears to have been done to the inside of the house.

I called the roofing/siding/gutter company that did the work on our rental for an estimate. They're a well established company and did great work for us, including reparing some wood that was rotten and had to be replaced along with new insulation. They looked at the pictures of the damage I e-mailed them and said it looks to be about a $400 job - well under our $1000 deductible.

For all of you impacted by these snowstorms, I strongly advise doing a "walk about" to see if there's any damage. Since we still have 3-4 foots drifts, we aren't excactly hanging out the the back yard and were lucky to have spotted this before it got worse.

Here's a picture of the damage plus a really good link Meadbh gave me regarding ice dams:

Ice Dams and Attic Condensation - State Farm

One other thing I heard - if you have natural gas running into your home it's important to clear the snow and ice from around the meter outside. This has to be done carefully so use your hands and a broom to prevent damage to the meter and gas line.

 

[tryan]

Last repair I did for ice dams was replace the roof. Putting water and ice tar paper over the entire roof. Stuff is $100/roll; no problem since. Most roofers will use the product on the first 3 feet (ice dam central) then cut to regular tar paper.

The attic was livable space so we did the whole roof.

 

[Amethyst]

Sorry Purron. Glad the repair estimate (for our area!) is low. Around here, it is hard to have the smallest thing done for less than $500-$1000. We would not turn anything less than $5000 over to Nationwide - they will raise rates for sure, and possibly even drop the customer. We used to like them, but all the insurance companies have gotten meaner in the last few years.

I did a walk-around to check our soffits. So far they look OK, but our gutters are iced over, so no telling what may yet happen.

Amethyst

 

[Purron]

Sorry Purron. Glad the repair estimate (for our area!) is low. Around here, it is hard to have the smallest thing done for less than $500-$1000.
Amethyst

You're right about that. Being in Fairfax County, VA, we're used to paying top dollar. It might be because this company recently did a big job for us. In any event, we're hoping this turns out OK.

 

[Meadbh]

Glad to hear the damage is minor!

 

[Khan]

 

[Purron]

Khan, I've heard you have to be really careful knocking off the ice. Not only can it cause damage to the house, but the falling ice is a hazard. Stay safe.

 

[W2R]

Wow, that is quite a lot of ice, Khan. Though I don't know anything about it, it sounds like a good thing that you are getting it down with a baseball bat, so that it doesn't fall on you (but take care!). Hope this is the end of the ice problems for you this year.

 

[travelover]

The problem isn't really the icicles hanging down, it is the dam that runs parallel to the lower edge of the roof. This allows water to move sideways and under the shingles, eventually dripping into the house.

Here is a decent article about what you can do or pay to have done to mitigate the damage.

Removing Ice on Roofs | CMHC

 

[ksr]

They looked at the pictures of the damage I e-mailed them and said it looks to be about a $400 job - well under our $1000 deductible.

Purron, that's not bad at all - glad it turned out to be a relatively minor repair for you. I imagine many of us will run up a repair bill of at least that much for something or other caused by the snow. So far, I know we've lost a blue spruce, some large branches, and some of our holly shrubs look pretty mangled. I don't expect to know the full extent of the damage until spring. As long as our roofs didn't cave in and we didn't have water streaming down an inside wall, we should probably consider ourselves lucky!

 

[ksr]

Here is a decent article about what you can do or pay to have done to mitigate the damage.

Removing Ice on Roofs | CMHC

That's a good article, thanks. I'm glad it mentioned that you should weigh the possibility of damage when trying to remove snow & ice from the roof. Last week there was a news report of a home in this area that had a major fire - the homeowner's had hired contractors to melt the snow off the roof using propane torches, and they lit the house on fire.

 

[travelover]

.......... the homeowner's had hired contractors to melt the snow off the roof using propane torches, and they lit the house on fire.

That's crazy! I have just used a garden hose hooked to the drain on the hot water heater to melt ice dams. You need to work up from the bottom of the ice dam or you'll make the problem worse.