Thursday, February 19, 2015
Winter Paradise?
Not hardly.
While digging myself out of last night's snow I got a call about this.
The stuff my nightmares are made off
Because it does this to the inside of the house
Two hours of beating on it with axes, picks and sundry sordid implements of destruction got us this far. See the channel we cut in the left side. (click on the picture to embigen) When we opened it up we drained about 50 gallons of melt water that were dammed up behind the ice. As soon as we drained it off the dripping inside the house subsided.
Five hours of beating on it and a pile of aching bones saw most of it gone.
Three more valleys look the same. Hope they don't cause more problems because they are not quite as easy to reach.
I've seen people put heat tape zig-zag along their eaves in winter, so there'd be open channels for water to drain through.
ReplyDeleteYes Gorges, that is the next step. This house has always had a problem with ice dams due to the gabled dormers, but never quite this bad. With snow storms every two or three days it got out of hand.
DeleteNot having even seen snow for decades, I have never really given much thought to the impracticalities of living in areas with high snowfall. Looks very pretty in photographs though!
ReplyDeletePretty when viewed in pictures, and quite the impressive glaciers, but brutal to have to deal with. Down low you have the solid blue ice that is hard as granite and weighs as much, up higher where you can just barely reach you have a porous sort of ice that holds water like a sponge. It is just one example of what happens when you have snow fall every other day and repeated freeze and thaw cycles from the heat given off by the house. I think we have all had quite enough of it. Just making it out the driveway is a hazard as with the six foot snow banks you can't see the cars coming at you.
DeleteDamn Mike, you guys are experience what we use to in Alaska. I always have ice build up on my cabins roof edge. I have to stand on the roof and chip it off. Our weather is very strange in Alaska this Winter. It's getting dangerous to travel on the rivers, temps in the 40's and calling for rain this weekend. I've not seen t his in 68 years. Bummer
ReplyDeleteAre you going to make it out to your remote cabin this year John? if the rivers are not frozen I would think its a big risk to take. Here the lakes are frozen good this year. Even the sea coves are frozen in. Usually by this time we have had one or two snowmobiles go through the ice on the thin spots on the ice. None this year yet.
DeleteActually, I spent last week at a friends remote cabin, we rode 40 miles North to my cabin, got within 4 miles and hit a severe whiteout. We couldn't see 5 feet ahead of us. We sat for 45 min. but, no let up. Had to turn around and head back.
DeleteWow! As I said before I dont think I could suevive real snow.We have now 1 cm and I am afraid to take the dog out;)
ReplyDeleteOh the dogs don't mind it at all Yael, they love the stuff. Keeping them clean gets to be a bit difficult with all the salt and muddy slush from the sand they spread everywhere to keep the roads clear. I was just at our local Big Box DIY hardware supply warehouse and some lady was there just to walk her two Shelties and give them some exercise where it was warm and dry.
DeleteThat's something new to me too..
ReplyDeleteNo big snowfall for us so far.. Some forecast for the weekend..
Keep warm while hacking ice... ;b
Brian, fortunately it was relatively warm yesterday just around zero Celsius while we were beating on the ice. I was down to just a flannel shirt and fleece lined jeans. Today it has dropped back down to minus 25 C and 30 mph wind gusts and you can't wear enough layers.
DeleteStill no snow here but wet half the time. I was in a t shirt the other day. Valleys on a roof can cause trouble at the bedt of times but with snow they're a nightmare. Something to think about if you were ever to build your own. Simple pitched roof with a gable is the best I guess we have a hip on ours and it's going to make the extension tricky when I roof it.
ReplyDeleteYes Kev in the grand scheme of things the design of that house is very classic but not the best for this part of the world. At top it all is a flat roof (rubber) and that has also been a source of many problems over the years. I regret not putting on a metal roof on my house. With metal roofing ice and snow just slides off. But at the time all I could afford was the asphalt shingles, it was late November and I was in a rush to get it done, I did not have the time to experiment with something different and figured it was best to do what I knew I could accomplish. A simple 12-12 pitch metal roof with no dormers, or protrusions, ells or extensions is the best here. That is why I am religious about raking my roof after every storm. I know one thing for sure, I can barely manage it now and I don't want to be messing with this monkey business in ten years from now.
DeleteThese things are good to think about - kindof future proofing your house for when you're older.
DeleteHopefully in ten years time you'll be somewhere warmer!
Better you than me, having to deal with things like that. So far, we have escaped with little or no damage here on the mountain, although we aren't going anywhere for awhile.
ReplyDeleteHey Harry I was beginning to worry about you and the ice storm down in Georgia. Sounds like you have electrons though. Best hunker down for the duration if the roads are icy. Just no sense in going out and getting in an accident.
DeleteWe're buckling down for 16 inches over the next 24 hours. This is a good reminder for me to shovel my roof. I haven't had to do it in a very, very long time!
ReplyDeleteHey Mark yes if you stay on it and keep it clear it avoids the problem all together. It just gets difficult when you get ten or twelve inches every other day. In Colorado it probably would melt the next day and be bright and sunny. If you are a true Mainer though you clear your roof with a snowblower like this guy in Buxton.
Deletehttp://youtu.be/zwak33knYr0