Hi, we've had the same problem. We looked up 'water damage' and found a list of professionals and they came out and removed the snow and most of the ice in the gutters and the leaking stopped. But we have water damage inside the house and I was going to ask about that. Trying to decide whether we should put in an insurance claim or pay out of pocket to get it repaired. They're talking about ripping out walls and some ceiling and removing wet insulation, etc. *sigh*.

I would get someone to get the snow and ice off your roof or it might keep dripping. And it's not just the water you can see, but the water behind the wall and wetting the wood and the insulation.

My last winter in MA was '11. We had a lot of snow that year as well. I had major ice dams. I shoveled off the roof and exposed the roof and gutters. To get rid of the ice I took 100' of garden hose and attached it to my tankless water heater. I used a spray nozzle that gave a pattern like a shower head spray. It took me 3 1/2 hrs, but my roof looked like a summer day , I didn't run out of hot water and best of all, I didn't damage the roof, gutter or downspouts. The run off melted the ice in the driveway. Go tankless!

Thanks for the replies. I figured out that is due to beautiful ice dam! I turned off main water supply and waited for one hour and water still dripping. That ruled out the plumbing issue. Some part of roof is not reachable so it is hard to clean-up by myself. I called few roofing guys and they are fully booked this time! There will be a guy to come to check on Friday. The good news is that the water stopped leaking yesterday. Of cause the damage is done. My insurance company will cover the snow removal and repair after $1000 deductible. The house dry company will come and check the damage only after the snow is removed. We will have another snow storm this weekend! The problem is that even I had the issue resolved this time, the winter is not over yet and we might get another hit before April, who knows, this is New England!

Shall I fix the problem now or wait to the end of winter, say late March to fix it? I like Jackfre's idea that using hot water to clean the ice dam. I will have to be creative since part of my roof is too high to reach.

Thanks a lot!

jhome - on the front of our house, a cape, the roof line was low enough to reach easily with an extension ladder. The ice had not come over the gutter yet, and my husband and son used hot water to melt the ice in the gutter. We kept two large pots on the stove boiling and someone stayed on the ladder and the second person shuttled pitchers of hot water back and forth from the kitchen, they were able to clear all the ice along the front but it took 5 hours.

On the back, because we had the same problem of professionals being booked, my son went to the hardware store and got a ladder stabilizer.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_95493-287-AC78_0__?productId=3047885&Ntt=ladder+stabilizer&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNtt%3Dladder%2Bstabilizer&facetInfo=

My son said this really made a big difference, with the rubber feet that sat on the side of the house. He put the top of the extension ladder just under the gutter with that stabilizer on it and was able to use hot water to clear the downspout and then put the calcium chloride filled pantyhose on the ice in the gutter. That stopped the leaking in the kitchen too. That took them 4 hours.

We have a roof rake. You use it to remove the first 3 feet of snow to prevent ice dams. Some of the older homes here in Vermont have exposed metal flashing on the first two feet of roof and the snow slides off. Click the link to see what roof rakes are.

Roof rakes

Christopher, we tried that and we still got ice dams. With 3ft of snow on your roof, there is still a lot of melting going on above that first 3ft. The water drains down the roof where it is warm from heat escaping the house, hits the gutter which is cold and freezes there. Getting the first 3ft of snow off the roof and putting up calcium chloride in panty hose, stopped the leaking for us, but was a temporary measure designed to allow us to wait for roofers to come and get up on the roof and remove all the snow.

The problem with CaCl is that it is very corrosive. It will rust out your gutters, drip edge, etc. I know it is the "any port in a storm" thing, but be advised. Proper attic insulation, properly installed can minimize this situation, but for the way the weather has treated you folks back there, I guess all bets are off. I sure wish we had some of your snow here in CA. Dry dry dry.

Also on the tankless hot water thing. I was up on the roof (two story), but I'm comfortable up there. You could do this from a ladder but it would take a lot of moving. I cut "bread loaves" about 18-24" long. Slots in other words from the outside in. That prevented water building up on the back side of the dam, which could increase the leaking. Start at the downspout end of the roof. My neighbors were, "what's he doing now?", but this worked really well. Good luck!

Jack, Thanks for that information. I also garden, so I hate putting that stuff on the roof to run down into the soil. I don't know how we are going to get through the winter with another 12-16" due to start tomorrow night and another storm forecast for next Wednesday.

We have plans to take more permanent steps to prevent the ice dams for next winter. It's always hard to find a contractor that you trust. But the work will be part of a bigger project that we want to start as soon as possible.

I do wish I could send you some of this to California. I thought you had rains recently, no?

Where are you in MA. I had an excellent contractor from the Gardner area work on my home as well as my business.

Not sure how far away Gardner is. You moved to California from MA. Sorry about the drought conditions there. You definitely should be here, getting to shovel snow again for the umpteen time this winter. lol Would be happy to have the name of a contractor to check out…I appreciate it :-)

How do you pm here?

Guess what, I have called number of contractors to set an appointment to clean up snow, everyone says at least 1-2weeks waiting time! One was confirmed to check mine today but no show. Finger crossed to see how can I hold on this weekend. The good news is that insurance company will cover the water damage and snow cleaning after $1000 deductible. I am just wondering when should I call contractor to check the water damage and fix it. The winter is not over yet, at least anther month or two!

Jackfre - I was not able to find a way to pm either. If you want to post the information here for the day and then delete it, I will be sure to come by today and get the info while it is on the thread.

The storey and one half home I grew up in constantly had ice dams, some so bad there were dangerous icicles hanging down. Totally insulating above the soffits would not solve the problem as the soffits were vented thus cold air was constantly entering the home and you never want to plug the vented soffits. The permanent solution was to lay thermostatically controlled electrical heat tracing a foot above the eaves. Not exactly economical but less expensive than the deductible for insurance claims. and no ice dams for the last 20 years. After 2 claims the Insurer refused to pay a third claim unless something was done to mitigate damages.

Many years ago we put electric heat wire in couple gutters. Have roof rakes. Can stay on ground and rake. One area in back of garage Have heat cables for roof. We installed rubber under shingles had foam put in.. He installed all our own heat cables.

It is code here in Ontario that a rubberized ice and snow shield must be installed at least 4 feet from the drip edge and up. The last roof I had done here I had them do the entire roof in a ice and snow membrane. It was not that expensive and is highly recommended. It is not a huge intricate roof although, simple gable style..

It should be code in all Cold areas . But is not. BIL worked for roofing company . And not that high priced. Know people who had neighbor video roofers. Owner got charged for it- and Just installed drip edge over tar paper.