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Your response was what pretty much what I expected. You confirmed my
own findings and provided me with some additional sources of
information. Now when I call in the contractors, I can discuss my
options more intelligently.
I also want to thank the people who added additional comments. I
learned more from them too.
As you may already know in having to deal with this problem, ice dams
are created when the roof space remains warm during the winter. The
heat moves up through the roof, melts the snow, runs down the roof and
then refreezes. This of course causes the ice to build up, and in most
circumstances, backs up underneath the shingles. Thus damage can occur
in the insulation, sheetrock, etc. While there are several
circumstances leading to this problem, the main cause seems to be
ventilation.
%26quot;Cold roof%26quot; design involves the concept of 1) providing better
ventilation by allowing the heat to escape through vents (increasing
the amount of insulation) and 2) cutting off all openings that allow
air to escape into the attic from the house. Regular shingles have
been proven to work fine with a cold roof installation system and thus
I would see no need to have to change the roof shingle. What is
important is what goes beneath it.
In terms of finding a contractor to do this, I would suggest going
to the following link for the National Roofing Contractors Association
below:
http://www.nrca.net/directory/contractor/dmgvicinity.asp
This link will allow you to enter in your zip code, roof type (steep
residential) and search for contractors from within 10 - 100 miles.
This will allow you to look at several contractors and find out which
ones could deal specfically with your problem and provide you
estimates.
Also, the following link offers a few guidelines that you can do in
the meantime to try and prevent ice damns.
http://www.agencyinfo.net/iv/homeowners/safety/winterPREVENTION.htm
Good luck!
Adding my two cents from personal experience. Our home in NH has
cathedral ceilings throughout. The house was built about 40 years
ago. I describe it as looking like a McDonald%26#39;s stand to people trying
to find it. I%26#39;ll assume your house,s finished ceiling (tongue and
groove finished boards) is the bottom of the room deck over the
support beams as ours is. While you report that your home has a steep
roof angle, our home was built with shallow roof angles exacerbating
the problem with ice dams and proper drainage. I tried the metal
flashing, roof edge heater wires, and going out after every storm to
try to rake the roof(rapidly gave up on this option). Each of the
%26quot;fixes%26quot; lasted a winter or two (we%26#39;ve lived there for 32 years now)
but eventually failed. About 10 years ago, I sprung for a single
menbrane roof over 1 1/2%26quot; insulation board. Voila!! Not one problem
ever since. BUT...the problem now is that, in a rain storm, it sounds
like we%26#39;re living in a tin roof house in Hawaii. If you go the single
membrane roof route, be sure to get the contractor to figure out a way
to break up the rainfall to it doesn%26#39;t require you to retreat to the
basement during a rain storm.
Contractor information in Gaylord, Michigan (not very close to Grand
Rapids) but a good website:
http://www.roofing.com/contractor?cmd=view%26amp;contractorid=628
The paid answer you have received should enable you to solve this
problem but prepare to spend $$$$.
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