Ice dam leaks in Skaneateles: an older village and the first feet of the roof

The Village of Skaneateles annex to the county hazard plan ranks winter weather first among its hazards, with a score of 67. The Town of Skaneateles annex does the same and records no winter vulnerability beyond the county norm. So your eave faces the winter every Onondaga County roof faces, and the useful question is about your house.

Syracuse's airport weather record puts the worst freeze-thaw month at March, not January. Snow insulates a roof deck that heat from the house has warmed, the melt runs to the cold overhang and freezes, and the dam holds back more melt that backs up under the shingles.

Expect damage at the edge: soaked underlayment, wet boards near the wall, a stained ceiling just inside.

Over half the village's houses went up in 1939 or before. That hints at age and says nothing certain about your eave. An old house has had decades to change its insulation, its ceilings and its roof edge.

The state residential code calls for an ice barrier along the eave, running at least 24 inches inside the outside wall, and a drip edge at the eaves on a shingle roof. Ask whether the estimate includes both and how far up the slope the barrier runs.

Inside the historic district, ask whether a new drip edge, visible at the roof line, belongs on the application. The ice barrier sits under the shingles.

Write down which wall the stain is on, how far it is from the corner, and the months it shows. Add whether it dries in cold weather. That note shows the roofer where to start.

Ask for the edge repair priced separately from the whole roof. If the deck near the edge is soft, ask for a per-sheet price for the boards before work starts. Keep off the roof and stay clear of any wires.

The federal energy guide puts the upstream cure in order: air seal, insulate, ventilate. That is outside the roof edge, and the roofer's estimate is about the edge.