Ice buildup at end of valley

[cerialwill]

Hello

I'm new to home ownership. Bought a backsplit house last year. This has been my first winter in the house.

Anyways, the snow on the roof started to melt today and I noticed some water leaking through a light fixture in my house. Turns out there's a leak in the roof where the back of the house meets the front of the house (see the picture). There was a ton of ice buildup at that spot and I think that led to ice damming which led to the leak. The singles are fine so I'm pretty sure the ice was the culprit. I cleared all the ice so you won't see it in the picture...but there was a lot of build up right at the end of that valley.

Untitled

• cerialwill
• 9 Mar 2015
• 1

I'm guessing the metal sheet showing at the end of the valley is not optimal? And maybe the end of that eavestrough could have been done better? What can I do to fix this and prevent ice buildup from happening again in this spot in the future?

Thanks!

 

[ree]

Hi,

If you could post pics of the intersecting roof - the one with the white gutter/eaves trough it might help.

I suspect that the gutter is discharging at the very spot where the valley discharges and the metal flashing is being overcome.

I dont know Ontario but should imagine that a woven asphalt shingle valley is not the best roofing detail for the climate?

The sheet metal flashing is inadequate - it could actually be diverting ice melt below the shingles.

A roofer should be hired to correct the above faults, i can advise but it needs professional eyes on site to make the calls.
Plus, its dangerous for a householder to be clambering on icy roofs each winter to clear an ice dam.
You will be well aware of warm roofs and cold eaves difficulties in forming ice dams, and if any hint of this exists, a roofer could advise.