Jesse01867
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- Feb 7, 2015
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I have a mansard victorian in a suburb north of Boston that was originally built in the mid-1860s.
The house had been foreclosed, purchased by a contractor, *gulp* 'flipped', and then we bought in in August 2012.
With the massive amounts of snow we've gotten, we've developed nasty ice dams around our dormer windows on the north and east sides of the house. We've had dams before but for the first time, we are seeing water enter the house. On the north side, water is coming through the wall by the lower left corner of the window in the bathroom. On the east side, water is coming in at multiple site along a four-pane casement window.
Clearly, the acute solution is to try to block formation of dams at these sites with some vigorous roof-rake work as the snow falls.
When the first dam was removed, we discovered that the contractor's idea of a 'new roof' was to put down another layer of shingles on top of the existing ones. Legal, up to code, but lazy. Because of this, we also think that the rubber sheet designed to block water entry into the house is not present.
What are our options here?
Do we assume the whole roof is suspect and needs to be replaced?
Will a metal mansard roof help prevent ice dams in the future?
What about just replacing the north and east sides?
Are there good ways to prevent ice dam formation with a mansard roof?
I'm not sure exactly what the size of the roof is but the estimates I have come across are between $12-20/sq. foot, for upwards of $40K for a whole roof. How do mansards compare to that price point?
Any advice and insight would be appreciated.
The house had been foreclosed, purchased by a contractor, *gulp* 'flipped', and then we bought in in August 2012.
With the massive amounts of snow we've gotten, we've developed nasty ice dams around our dormer windows on the north and east sides of the house. We've had dams before but for the first time, we are seeing water enter the house. On the north side, water is coming through the wall by the lower left corner of the window in the bathroom. On the east side, water is coming in at multiple site along a four-pane casement window.
Clearly, the acute solution is to try to block formation of dams at these sites with some vigorous roof-rake work as the snow falls.
When the first dam was removed, we discovered that the contractor's idea of a 'new roof' was to put down another layer of shingles on top of the existing ones. Legal, up to code, but lazy. Because of this, we also think that the rubber sheet designed to block water entry into the house is not present.
What are our options here?
Do we assume the whole roof is suspect and needs to be replaced?
Will a metal mansard roof help prevent ice dams in the future?
What about just replacing the north and east sides?
Are there good ways to prevent ice dam formation with a mansard roof?
I'm not sure exactly what the size of the roof is but the estimates I have come across are between $12-20/sq. foot, for upwards of $40K for a whole roof. How do mansards compare to that price point?
Any advice and insight would be appreciated.