Heavy snows and freezing rain have kept Freeborn County residents busy keeping roads and sidewalks clear this winter, but the precipitation could also cause a problem where few would tread – their roof.

Monday, February 19, 2001

Heavy snows and freezing rain have kept Freeborn County residents busy keeping roads and sidewalks clear this winter, but the precipitation could also cause a problem where few would tread – their roof.

Houses without sufficient attic insulation can lose a lot of heat through the ceilings, melting snow on the roof which re-freezes as ice dams on the eaves, said Doug Johnson, Albert Lea city building inspector.

&uot;The ice starts building up,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;That’s where we’re getting most of our problems. When that ice starts damming up, it will start damming up underneath the shingles.&uot;

When spring hits, or a warm day begins to melt the ice, that water can end up leaking through to the inside of the house, Johnson said.

Ice dams can also put a lot of weight on the eaves of a home, possibly damaging the structure, he said.

&uot;It’s kind of a catch 22 ,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;Do you go up there and remove that ice? Well if you go up there and start chipping at it do you do more damage, chipping through the shingles? Also there’s the danger of being up there.&uot;

There are several contractors in the area who will remove ice dams by using steam or warm water. Johnson recommends people with ice dams contract for their removal rather than attempt to remove them.

&uot;If they do feel that there’s a concern, that they have to get them off, they should contact a contractor that’s been doing it and knows what they are doing,&uot; Johnson said.

Homeowners should also be concerned that snow does not block important vents through the roof, he said.

Furnace vents need to be clear of snow to ensure that deadly carbon monoxide gas doesn’t build up inside the house, Johnson said.

&uot;The best way to check that is, when your furnace is running, go outside and make sure that smoke is coming from the roof,&uot; he said.

Another concern with snow on the roof is covered sewer vents, Johnson said. Stack vents don’t stick up as far as the chimney vents, and are more likely to be covered.

&uot;The methane gas from the sewer is heated and it will melt the snow around it,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;You should be able to look up and see that stack vent sticking up from the snow.&uot;

If a stack vent is not functioning properly, toxic methane gas could back up into the home, Johnson said. Occupants will notice a sewer smell from the methane gas.

&uot;Our experience is if people have a methane gas leak, they know right away and they call us or they call someone else,&uot; Johnson said.

Covered attic vents will not pose any health threats to a home’s occupants, Johnson said.

Most roofs in Albert Lea are pitched and designed to hold two to three feet of snow, he said. The slope of most roofs helps direct snow to the outside walls, so most homeowners don’t have to be concerned about snow weight.

&uot;Flat roofs are a little bit harder to tell,&uot; Johnson said. &uot;There’s a lot of snow that gets built up and it’s got nowhere to run.&uot;

Snow and ice buildup caused a roof in the Streater Store Fixture packing area to collapse last Friday, creating a lot of unnecessary mess and headache.

&uot;The ice and snow buildup on the roof is actually what caused the roof to come down,&uot; said Executive Vice President Thomas Stensrude. &uot;The stress of the load was just more than the roof could handle.&uot;

Heavy December snows were not blown off by wind as they had been in previous years, Stensrude said. Ice storms cemented the snow to the roof and increased the weight.

&uot;Nothing that in a normal situation would blow off could blow off,&uot; He said.

On the way down, the roof broke a water main,

he said. A week later, Streater is still removing snow and water from inside the facility.

A temporary roof is in place while engineers at Zenk, Read, Trygstad and Associates design a new roof to avert future problems, Stensrude said.

&uot;We’re going to take that section of the roof and bring it up a little bit,&uot; he said. &uot;Give it a slight slope.&uot;

All of Streater’s buildings have flat roofs, but Stensrude is not concerned about future failure in other spots.

&uot;It’s just an unusual year and an unusual build-up of snow and ice,&uot; he said.