# Ice & water penetrating soffits



## Jcaronahccdc (Feb 23, 2009)

I had recently (last June) had my roof replaced. The contractor was a certainteed certified roofing contractor. They tore off all of the existing roofing, drip edges & tar paper. They installed ice & water shield 3' on all edges and whatnot. I am not sure if they installed the drip edge first at this point (snow on roof at the moment). This winter I am seeing water & ice behind the fascia & coming out of the soffit vents (note: I have never had this problem before). What could be causing this to happen? I thought ice & water sjhield was there to prevent this from happening. Is this something I should be worried about and get my contractor back to look at so they can fix this spring? Thanks in advance for the advice!


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## jenoble99 (Dec 1, 2008)

*same issue*



Jcaronahccdc said:


> I had recently (last June) had my roof replaced. The contractor was a certainteed certified roofing contractor. They tore off all of the existing roofing, drip edges & tar paper. They installed ice & water shield 3' on all edges and whatnot. I am not sure if they installed the drip edge first at this point (snow on roof at the moment). This winter I am seeing water & ice behind the fascia & coming out of the soffit vents (note: I have never had this problem before). What could be causing this to happen? I thought ice & water sjhield was there to prevent this from happening. Is this something I should be worried about and get my contractor back to look at so they can fix this spring? Thanks in advance for the advice!


 I'm having this same issue on the home we just purchased. I'm unsure of your situation, but mine I think is caused by the el cheapo gutter guards clogging up with leaves after being bent into the gutter and allowing water to run back up under the shingles. I need to get it checked, just haven't had the time yet. I'm curious to see what you find out. I'm going to remove those stinkin gutter guards. It takes all of an hour to clean gutters. Are you sure your gutters are clean?


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## [email protected] (Nov 17, 2008)

The ice and water shield may be installed incorrectly.

Check these links for proper installation.

http://roofersreview.com/v/Roofing+Illustrated/Roof+Edge+Detail/

http://roofersreview.com/v/Roofing+Illustrated/Snow+Guard+Installation/Ice+shield+underlayment.html

You are only addressing the symptom and not the cause of the ice dam leaks.

More information on ice dam problems.

http://roofingcontractorreview.com/Ice-Dam-Leaks.html

http://roofingcontractorreview.com/Soffit-Vents-and-Attic-Ventilation.html


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## tinner666 (Mar 14, 2005)

I agree with Dennis. Also note, that some roofs that had shingle overhang of 1 1/2" and never had this problem, now get it when DE is installed, and shingles are not overhung.


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## Ed the Roofer (Jan 27, 2007)

How wide are your soffits?

The typical roll of Ice and Water Shield is only 3 feet wide. If your soffit overhang is at least 2 feet past the exterior bearing wall, then only less than 12" of the Ice and Water shield product in applied where it is needed.

The ice dams occur from excessive heat loss, which is has a combination of causes, being inadequate ventilation and/or inadequate insulation R-value in the attic.

When the "Hot Spots" on the underside of the roof deck sheathing transfer the warmth to the roof top snow, the bottom of the snow pack melts, and when the sun is out, the top of the snow melts. After sunset, the top stops melting when the sun goes down and the bottom of the snow can still met. That is, until it meets with the snow pack that previously was melting on the roof above the soffit overhang. That snow started to freeze up and now the remainder of the down flow of melted water is getting blocked, by this newly formed ice dam.

Make sure the system is done to specifications, so that the causation is mitigated as best as possible.

Ed


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## Tom Struble (Dec 29, 2008)

dmc great link and info,I was wondering if it would be better to put the 12'' strip of i&w first wraping that around the facia then the drip edge and lastly the full i&w ontop of the drip wouldnt it be best to avoid the reverse lap in the I&W?


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

GAF installation instructions
Standard: Eaves drip edge 1st, rakes drip edge after Ice & water shield
Video also states you can install under the drip edge & over the facia for ice dam issues. All must be covered by the drip edge as it is not rated for exposure to the sun



> Install up the roof to a point at least 24" (600mm) past the
> interior warm inside wall.


My overhang was 20", 6" wall, so one 3' strip was not enough
If your overhang & wall are more then 12" combined then you need more I&W shield
I ended up doing the whole roof

http://www.gaf.com/Content/Documents/20012.pdf


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## Jcaronahccdc (Feb 23, 2009)

I have been looking at the information everyone provided and appreciate the information. Our attic is well insulated and there is not insulation blocking the soffits or soffit vents and we have gable end vents that work great (attic access I can see clearly down the roof rafters). Oddly enough with a flashlight I cannot see that the ice is building up and getting through anywhere past the fascia. My soffits are only 12" overhang so 24" roughly is past the soffits covering the rook planks. If the contractor did only install the Ice & water shield under the drip cap would it make sense when I do siding & gutters this summer to run a peice of ice & water under the first row of shingles and into the butters to help prevent ice build up there? Thanks all


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## Jcaronahccdc (Feb 23, 2009)

I was also wondering if it would make sense to install heat tapes to help with ice dams. I live in Maine and I've seen it on other homes maybe that have the same issue.


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