Under near perfect conditions which happens far less than a blue moon, we get snow upon snow & it won't get above freezing so it can't melt off the roofs then bamm we get a frezzing rain that won't wash it off either now a sheen of ice forms over the roof so starts the beginning of an ice dam. Add this to your attic being warmer than the outside temps & the ice/snow starts melting from the bottom (roof surface) but gets traped by the frozen snow & ice add to this that the roof's overhang is a cold spot not warmed by the attic & you start to get a full fledged ice dam. Now that melted snow & ice that's blocked & traped under the freeze starts to back up the roof & finally the water finds an exit, usually down the interior wall, like a waterfall untill no more water. Then the cycles starts up again & in no time at all in the middle of the night you realize that your wall, ceilings, floors & anything else that swims is gonna get destroyed so you call the those that will crawl out on the ice dam (it's like a shelf of ice anywhere from a few inches thick to well over a foot & the width of the surface could be anywhere from a few inches to 2-3 feet wide, wide enough to walk on. Anyway here a whine from those that get paid to break up these ice dams. Kendall, I'll send you the $5 charge for whinning,,,,, next spring. Barry


Ice Damming by Barry Finn

(Tune: Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changing")


It's winter in New England and throughout the land

The trucks start rolling with all available hands

It's a party, a tradition, a picnic, a plan

Over mountains of snow they attack the Ice Dams


Chorus:

And you hear everywhere the cry Ice Dam

It's a flue, it's a fever that spreads through the land

Man your pickups, your axes, every woman and man

And answer the call and the cry Ice Dam


Blaze a path round a house in snow that's waist deep

Take a snow rake or a shovel and clear up 3 feet

Crawl the edge of the dam on a roof that's to steep

And start pounding on ice and give nobody peace


On a 40 foot ladder that slides on the ice

Out comes the homeowner who tries to be nice

I like what you're doing but I don't like you're price

For a few dollars less would you still risk your life


Some shingles may break and the ice will sure fall

If we land on your shrubs sure you'll give us a call

Your checks will bounce as we bounce off your walls

It must be illegal to have such a ball


Like ants, like termites we're all over your roof

We cry Ice Dam and drink 100 proof

A windfall in winter is scarce it's the truth

When ice damming is done we're a winter recluse


Copyright, Barry Finn 1996 (winter)