Ice dam leaks in Syracuse: what the dam did to the eave and the ceiling below

Snow melts on the warm part of the roof. The water runs down to the overhang, where the deck is cold, and freezes into a ridge. More water behind it has nowhere to go and backs up under the shingles. The federal energy guide describes the same chain, and you can see it in your own icicles.

March is the worst month for it in Syracuse. The temperature crosses freezing on about 18 days in March, more than in January, so the cycle repeats. That is why you may see no leak all January and a stain in March.

The damage sits at the eave: wet underlayment, soaked deck boards near the edge, stained ceiling just inside the wall. That does not mean the whole roof has failed.

Where ice has formed along the eaves, the state residential code calls for an ice barrier: a self-adhering membrane or two cemented layers, running from the edge to at least 24 inches inside the outside wall. It also calls for a drip edge along the eaves.

Ask whether the estimate puts both in, and how far up the slope the ice barrier runs. On a replacement, that is part of the tear-off to the deck. On a repair, it may be a strip along the edge.

The upstream cause is usually warm air reaching the cold deck. The federal guide puts it in order: seal, insulate, ventilate. That is background; your roofer's job is the edge.

If a roofer proposes to cover the whole roof for an eave problem, ask why. A replacement is a fair choice when the field is worn too. It is a poor choice when the edge is the only thing that failed, so ask for the edge price separately.

More than four in ten Syracuse homes were built in 1939 or earlier. Houses that old have often had their ceilings, insulation and roof covering changed more than once. None of that is a measurement of your eave.

What it suggests is an honest question for you to ask: when was this edge last opened up, and what is under the shingles now? If the answer is that no one knows, a roofer's look at the edge is worth more than a guess.

If the deck near the edge is wet or soft, you want that in writing before the work begins, with a price for the boards. Ask that the estimate separate the edge repair from the rest of the roof.

Write down what you see from inside: the room, the wall it is on and how far the stain is from the corner. Add whether it dried in cold weather. That one note tells the roofer where to put the first question.