Ice Dammin - Exterior Wall Assembly

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Ice dams are a source of tens of millions of dollars in home damages each year. Homeowners have tried heat tapes at the edge of the roof, rakes, more ventilation in the attic and a million other ideas to stop this threat, but with limited success.  e build- ing science community has been able to determine how and why ice dams occur, and this has led to a successful strategy to stop them.  They found that the problem isn’t at the eave—that’s just where it becomes evident and does its damage.  e ice dam itself is just a symptom of the real problem.

Preventing ice dams is all about creating an effective air and insulation barrier at the ceiling of the house. An ice dam starts when heat is allowed to rise from the ceiling of the house at what building science calls thermal bypasses (explained below) and melts the underside of the snow pack on the roof.  is meltwater runs down the warm roof as liquid at just above freezing. It stays liquid until it reaches the exposed eaves of the house, and there the temperature of the roof deck suddenly drops because the deck is fully exposed on the bottom side to the cold outside air.  e meltwater  ash freezes at the eave, and the ice dam begins to form. As more water melts and runs down the roof, it builds up a small lake behind the ice dam and backs up under the shingles to run down the walls of the home. If the snow pack stays frozen, there can be no ice dam.  e solution is to correct the cause, not to deal with the ice dam itself. In other words, stop the heat from rising at the ceiling of the house and the snow pack will stay frozen and no ice dam will be able to form in the first place.

This requires us to seal all thermal bypasses and insulation defects in the ceiling of the home. A thermal bypass is a place where the insulation and ceiling air barrier have holes in one or both system (remember: “continuous and contiguous”).  These are places like open utility chases for plumbing, wiring and ducts, dropped ceilings and other irregularities that provide opportunities for breaks in the drywall air barrier and insulation at the ceiling. These openings will act as a chimney for warm air to escape into the attic where they rise and warm the roof deck.

All thermal bypasses must be sealed airtight with rigid materials like plywood or foam board, then air sealed with caulk or foam sealant and then covered thoroughly with insulation.  is is a job best done by the framing crew during the initial framing of the home. Subcontractors who later penetrate these air barriers must be held responsible for resealing them once they have installed the plumbing, wires or ductwork that runs through them. Any areas of missing insulation must be fully insulated.

Recessed can lights are notorious thermal bypasses. They are not only ventilated to allow warm house air to pass through, but they generate their own heat when the lights are on.  e energy
star Certified Homes Program has an excellent list called theermal Bypass Checklist24 showing everything that must be sealed for a home to be certified.

The best solution in new construction is to seal everything on thermal Bypass Checklist and to use only recessed light fixtures that are airtight rated and also rated for insulation coverage. These lights are o en called AT/IC-rated recessed  fixtures.  They should meet ASTM E-28325 and be labeled as such.

If you can’t replace the old leaky can lights in your existing home, consider a code-approved option. Build a sealed box out of drywall that leaves a clearance around the  fixture as specified by the manufacturer. Cover the cans with the drywall boxes and seal the boxes down to the ceiling drywall.  is will stop the air from rising through the cans and heating the roof deck and starting the process that leads to ice dams.

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