How to Avoid Icicles Forming on a Mansard Roof

Icicles have several causes, but are often an indication of an ice dam, a serious problem in which water backs up behind frozen ice during a freeze-thaw cycle. Water behind the dam can penetrate your roof, causing a serious leak. Most icicles hang from the eaves or gutter at the base of a roof. If you have a Mansard roof, however, your icicles probably form where the upper roof plane meets the lower. If your Mansard roof tends to have icicles, you can do several things to prevent them from forming.

Ladder
Work gloves
Attic insulation
Attic fan
Snow guards

Instructions

- 1
  Keep gutters clean, properly sloped and running freely. Many Mansards don't have gutters between the two roof planes, but if yours does, they may be the cause of your icicles.
- 2
  Insulate your attic under the roof so that it meets local R-value standards. This prevents heat from the house from quickly melting snow, which supplies the water that creates the ice dam and the leak.
- 3
  Ventilate your attic to keep the roof cold so that ice is less likely to melt and form dams. If natural, even ventilation from the eaves is not possible, a fan facilitates circulation. A thermostat causes the fan to turn on when the roof gets too warm.
- 4
  Install snow guards on the roof to keep snow from sliding down your Mansard roof and collecting at the base of the roof plane.

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