There’s nothing to be done about the ice dams on the roof. Everybody in this region with a house that’s not insulated perfectly underneath the roof has this problem. There’s water coming down along where the finished porch in back meets the house, and it was starting to get into my office in the basement, but it stopped after I stacked plywood boards on top of a long piece of 2×4 that’s leaning against the house. It seems to be helping direct the water away from the foundation. The only thing left to do is forget about it, with the help of Kahlua and chocolate milk.
I checked a Lowes last night, but nada.
Oh, if you didn’t get it early in the season, forget it.
Actually, I got another bag at Home Depot Framingham just last week.
Carol said the This Old House site says to use panty hose as the “delivery system.” So now the question is, where can I get calcium chloride?
This winter marks the first time we’ve had an ice dam, or at least one that has led to noticeable water infiltration. Susan searched online and found stockings filled with CaCl to be a possible aid, so we tried that. Seemed to definitely melt the ice well, but when we had our contractor over to look, he helpfully pointed out that we had them in the wrong place. He had been out for days doing the same thing! So we re-placed them by leaning over the third floor deck railing and chucking one in place (took quite a few tries) and stepping halfway out our bedroom dormer window and swinging one around to the side of the dormer. They may have helped; certainly the water stopped, but whether it was due to our efforts or not, I don’t know.