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When they tore off the rubber roof was their insulation on top of the plywood and how much ? Was the plywood rotten just in the over hang or all over ? I am understanding right that you where having trouble with the old roof right ?It would help to have a picture of how the addition is built,is this how it is?

Hopefully your contractor can find the problem and be fixed easily.

If there are gutters on that roof, it will be at least part of the problem, most likely along with not enough pitch. I put steel on my house, about a 8/12 pitch and then installed gutters. On the shady side of my house(North West) I had nothing but trouble with ice dams and leaks just like yours. I had installed Ice/Water 6 feet up the roof also, after doing a full tear off. I still have some minor issues after removing the gutters, and should probably pull the snow off that side when we get a foot + at times, but no where's like before with the gutters installed. I would also check how much steel they ran past the drip edge at the over hang. I'm not sure what is recommended, but I have roughly the same weather as you do, and we run it at least 2-3 inches past. Good luck with it.

If you had trouble with the rubber roof the same way,only in the winter,I`m pretty sure it`s condensation.No matter how much of an ice dam you had on the rubber roof it should of not leaked unless the flashings where coming loose.Unless it was weaping back under,and if done the way we do them that would be impossible.

^^^^ Do you bring the rubber down onto the fascia to keep water from wicking up under the rubber at the edge of the roof?

Contractor showed up at 9:00 AM this Morning. Knocked about 6 inches thick of Ice that was 2 feet wide off the metal roof. Problem is how the design of the low slop roof on the back of the house was put on in the first place. Where the back wall of the house meets the edge of the Low slop roof, which was put on in the 1930s; there is only about 6 inches of space between the roof planks, and the Attic. More distance the further back from the edge of the Low Slope roof, of course. But , that is what I have to deal with when it comes to the edge of the roof.

About the only option I have, is to install electric heat tape along the edge of that roof,, and in the gutter.

Run that heat tape down the downspout and bring the plug out the end.
Downspouts freeze to.

Ice dam Happens to the best of us !! Had a patio room get flooded. Only remedy is ice melt in the gutters and a heat gun . TONS of peoples gutters are falling off so much ice build up. Plus as for leak it can be coming in and running a rafter before it falls. Metal roofs are notorious for that.

Not that much condensation Will deveolop on a roof that has an attic . Were you get lots of it is a heated building that doesn't have attic space between the heat source and roof.

Gutters are backing up allowing water to roll down the inside of the walls.

That is a pretty good diagram of the shape and slope of the roofs on my house. Except when we had the blown in insulation done on the Attic, the only access portion is through a ceiling hatch that goes to the low slope roof. The front part of the house , has no access to the attic . When they did the addition back around 1930 with the low slope roof; they totally blocked off the attic access to the front part of the house. Good thing we switched to a boiler system for the upstairs portion of the house, because if the ductwork in the front attic ever needed to be worked on; there would be no way to get to it without cutting a hole through the wall in the attic in the back part of the house.


Will be glad to sell this house in a couple of years.

You could move !?

WHAT THE HECK..

NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9:30 AM this Morning, I am in the Bathroom, and noticed 3 lines of WATER RUNNING DOWN THE BATHROOM WALL, IN THE SAME PLACE AGAIN!!

Took pictures and a video of it . Called Contractor up, who got the ice of the roof this last time. No answer. Left message on answering machine. Got temp set at 56 degrees for the upstairs. Water has been dripping off the metal roof since he got the ice off the roof. Non stop dripping off the roof.

When he was here the last time , I asked if he will fix the wet drywall. His answer????


"That is an INSURANCE PROBLEM. Make a claim on your Homeowners insurance. "

Unbelievable !!!!!!

I'm not convinced this is the contractor's problem.

You had an ice dam. That is an act of nature. Heat tape would have likely prevented this from happening.

My roofs are warrantied for a period of two years against leaks caused by defective materials or poor workmanship. They are not warrantied against disasters/acts of nature, nobody's are.

If the contractor installed the roof according to code I don't see how it is his problem. If he did not, then he fixes it and any resulting damage on his dime or makes a liability insurance claim.

Either way, preventive measures on your part could have avoided this.

I had a customer years ago that called me back and threatened to sue me because the roof of an addition I built was leaking.

I went right over and discovered the remnants of an ice dam that either he or his idiot son had tried chipping away with something like screwdrivers. In the process they poked right through the aluminum valley flashing, the ice and water shield and into the plywood substrate.

I patched it up (and billed him for it) and told him not to call me again or he'd be hearing from my lawyer.

Nothing to worry about until it looks like this.

Just pulled up the exact wording of the Building Permit that he got. He put on the Building Permit "Reroof Asphalt" That would be putting a 2nd layer of new roof shingles on the front pitched roof part of the house; which he did , and did a good job on that.. But, he never listed the new metal roof over the old rubber roof on the back of the house; when he got the Building Permit. The Building inspector also never showed up to inspect the job.

Bob, this whole thing sounds to me like a problem of inadequate slope, inadequate insulation, inadequate ventilation. That doesn't sound to me like the contractor's problem.

I know that's a very old house you are in. It is likely very poorly insulated and sealed. If I were you, and IF I planned to stay in that house, I would tear off the old roof ...right down to the wall plates................and build a new one with a decent pitch and insulate & ventilate it correctly.

You're dealing with a sow's ear silk purse dilemma IMO

Is there not a Proposal or Contract stating his terms, scope of work, materials to be used, start and end dates, warranties, costs, ect. signed by him and accepted by you? It doesn't sound like it if your reading just the building permit.

LOL it was an Ice dam Just looking at pics. I had one on the side of my house that has a 12/12 pitch. Water spot on the ceiling in the garage . Climbed a ladder yesterday with a heat gun and opened up the gutter right were the downspout is. Problem solved . We had 2 rounds of non stop freezing rain followed by 8-10 in of snow. EVERYONE around me had ice dams .Some of the gutters were falling off peoples houses from the frozen solid gitters and 5- 6 foot long ice cicles hanging from them. These houses are 25 years old and have never had water come in. But all that rain and snow and 8 degrees 4 nights in a row was freezing things as they melted .
Tough conditions but bob the builder can put on a roof and it could leak if ice dams form ....

My opinion would be to get rid of the gutters.