Ice Damming
In the last two months, Tomacor has completed many inspections where “ice damming” has lead to health problems for our clients. This condition creates a perfect environment for indoor mold or mildew growth. The common associated health risks include sudden asthma, skin rashes and sinus problems.
Due to the fluctuations of winter temperatures, roofs are subject to “freeze-thaw cycles” which can create “ice damming.” It’s typically a poorly insulated house that allows excess heat into the attic, encouraging ice dams to form.
Once an ice dam develops on a gutter, melted water is “dammed” back on the roof over extended distances. Water over the shingled attic will work its way under the shingles and into the home. Melted water causes rot and converts structural components into hidden health hazards.
What is an “ice dam”? A poorly insulated roof collects snow and its warmer-than-air temperature causes this snow to melt and run into a gutter. This runoff freezes within a gutter and backs-up, creating icicles and a large ridge, or “dam,” of ice out of the top of the gutter. Melted snow runoff can no longer drain through the gutter and is held back to a point over the warm roof. Roof leaks caused by ice damming typically extend between 2 to 15 feet from the ice dam.
The landlord or homeowner must repair the problem. The lasting solution is to ventilate the attic or crawl space below the roof (keeping it cold) and insulating the attic floor (a $3,000-$5,000 repair). In all cases, inhabitants are expected to suffer through the wet until spring, when outside temperatures rise and begin work again.
Landlords in the Chicago area are required to keep their buildings essentially water-tight (Chicago Building Code Group 34, 13-196-530(c)).
Nearly any roofer and insulation contractor can make these repairs to prevent ice damming and the formation of mold or mildew in the home. Tomacor inspects the workmanship; don’t pay them if it’s poor.
Tom Corbett
< a href="http://www.amlegal.com/library/il/chicago.shtml"> Chicago Building Code Online
Mold Related Health Problems