The winter weather this year has been perfect for a condition on houses commonly referred to as “ice damming”. This occurs when the warmest part of a roof “near the top,” warms the snow enough for melting to occur. The melted water than flows down the roof under the remaining snow until it meets a colder area on the roof “usually at the edge or the gutter,” and freezes into ice. Once the ice has started to form, it continues to grow as a barrier to other water, and it’s size depends on the amount of snow on the roof and the amount of heat escaping the house through the roof. The result of this process is that the ice that has “dammed” at the edges of the roofline causes water to back up the roof, where it will sit, sometimes freezing, or often creeping under shingles and finding its way into the house. It also is a major cause of giant icicles that can become a hazard if or when they become too heavy and fall. In short, it is a serious situation that can cause long term damage to a house, and in some cases, to passersby.
The reason I find this natural phenomena so interesting is because I worked for a time installing roofs with my high school shop teacher. Because he was a teacher, and a good teacher, he would explain the science behind all of the roofing situations we encountered. I was impressed by the continual business he had, especially bcause he never advertised “except by word of mouth”, he would tell people that he was more expensive than others roofers, and he always took longer than expected – in some cases twice the projected time. The main reason that he was able to stay so busy and popular was that when he finished a job it was done right. I remember working for hours on particular areas of a roof that might be troublesome down the road if they were not rebuilt, or revamped in some way. He never rushed, he never improvised, and he never said “good enough”. For this reason, as I drove around my hometown last week looking at the roofs we had worked on “and yes, I really did this – I told you it’s an obsession,” not one of them had ice dams formed or forming.
There are a number of lessons I have been considering around this issue. The first are the lessons I learned from my shop teacher, and they can be summed up by the principles I have been discussing the last few weeks – doing the right thing, doing your best, taking your time, always being considerate of others, having a plan, etc. And any one of these is a great lesson in and of itself. But the other lessons I have been thinking about come from the process of the ice dams and how to work with them to avoid damage.
I learned from my work as a roofer that water is really not your house’s friend. I have kept this mantra in mind when doing work outside of my house over and over again. Water needs to be steered away from your house. Roofs, windows, basements, and doors want water out, not water in. All houses should have grading that directs water down and away from the house rather than towards it. These are the basics of house construction, and you would think that these common sense ideas are enough to keep your house safe. But water is tricky. Well, maybe not tricky, but persistent. And powerful. Another bit of wisdom I have held in my brain came from a documentary about “Deadheads,” people whose hobby, or life style, or “thing,” depending on the language you chose, is following the band The Grateful Dead around and attending all of their concerts – often selling grilled cheese sandwiches, tye died t shirts, or various illegal drugs to fund their “trips”. Anyway, the point is that in this documentary a young woman was talking about the lessons she had learned from water. She was saying that water is an amazing force because when flowing, it always finds the point of least resistance and takes that. And yet water is anything but lazy. As a matter of fact, water is one of the strongest forces in nature. But initially, if it comes up against an opposing force, it will not slow down and waste time arguing with the thing that is trying to stop it. Water simply goes around it, or under it, or over it, or wherever it is able to go at that time. Water knows how to roll with resistance, and by doing so, it is able to wear down, wear out, move aside, and eventually overcome anything in front of it. And it does this without ever stalling, or stopping, or debating with the thing that is in it’s way. At the time, I was surprised by the wisdom from this young woman “insert another lesson about judgmental thinking,” and I have seen the truth of her thoughts demonstrated time and time again in nature “i.e. the formation of the Grand Canyon”.
So now lets turn our attention to water that does not flow. Consider the ice dam. Now rewind to last week’s thought about pain from the past. They took a long time to form and many are stuck – frozen in our minds and in our soul. Solid. And these internal freezes attract more hurts, resentments, depression and convoluted thoughts. Our cold zones grow and gather new sources to make them bigger and bigger. Ice dams don’t happen over night. They form slowly, with the right weather conditions, and then they grow unless they are removed. Nothing can flow down and away from the house, just as nothing is allowed to flow out and away from a person, unless the problem is resolved.
And the “fixing” is a delicate process. I remember the great care my mentor talked about using if you are faced with a dam. Using a sharp metal shovel, or going too quickly or too deeply to remove the snow left on your roof – the thing that continues to feed the ice dam, can cause more harm than good. You can damage the shingles that way, or even puncture the roof itself. Plastic shovels only and a light touch, removing one layer of snow at a time is the answer. Once you stopped the “power” to the ice dam, there is the issue of the ice itself. This process is even trickier, but there are a few options: Some roofers will chisel “channels” into the dam. These are essentially low points that will allow melting ice and any future water to flow through. As water passes through the channels, the openings will grow larger and larger because the force of the water through the channel melting more ice until the dam eventually disappears. Other people suggest chipping away the entire dam all at once. This can be dangerous for the same reasons as removing the snow to quickly – a rough removal can take down gutters or damage the edges of your roof. It can also result in serious injury. The number one cause for accidents among adult males is falling from a ladder or roof “don’t get any ideas, ladies”. Ice dams remind me of the problems we encounter with old hurts and pain in these ways. The old hurt or pain is there – it will always grow unless you take away the thing that is “feeding” it, giving it power in your life. You need to take care in removing the power, you need to be gentle. Once the source is removed, the next step is to remove the existing “dam-age”. Again, this requires great care and time. During this entire process, it is essential to try hard to not make things worse – tread lightly. And, above all, do not fall off the ladder or the roof altogether while trying to fix problems of the past. So often, too often, people go through this life plagued by hurts and pain from the past – and these pains cause them to lose all focus on the life they have now – on the gifts of the present.
I am reminded from time to time of the precious, temporary situations that comprise our lives. The wise phrase “This to shall pass,” has gotten me through many a tough and painful experience – because it is true. In the end, it will pass, it will all pass, and life will continue to move forward, flowing constantly forward, never stopping, never stalling, moving rhythmically and steadily onward. In the end, it is always our choice to rejoice, be grateful, enjoy and accept the ride “even the bumpy, scary, rapids and waterfalls”. If we refuse to move, if we turn cold and attract the icy negative emotions and further “dam-age,” life will not argue, or stop, or stall, it will find a way around or over or under us and the dams of resistance we build. Over the next week, be on the lookout for the ice dams around and within you. Begin to melt…
When I lived in Syracuse I worked in insurance and we were always inundated with claims for water damage caused by ice damming. Now I work in a substance abuse out-patient clinic. I never saw the similarities until now. I only wish people were as easy to repair as roofs!