Category Archives: Winter Concerns

A Pattern of Condensation in an Attic

Posted by in Attic Ventilation, Buying/Maintaining a Home, Winter Concerns | June 18, 2018

The feature photograph shows a view of the ridge in an attic.  Note the discoloration and biological growth on both slopes.  Notice that the discoloration is worse on the slope left of the ridge than on the slope right of… Read More →

Does Ventilation Really Provide a Benefit in an Attic?

Posted by in Apparent Mold/Biological Growth, Attic Ventilation, Buying/Maintaining a Home, Winter Concerns | June 04, 2018

The clear surface on the underside of the roof deck around the three bathroom vent pipes shows that even a little bit of inadvertent air flow is capable of reducing condensation and the risk of apparent mold/biological growth. It doesn’t… Read More →

Who Says, “You Need to Have a Gutter to Have Ice Damming or Icicles?”

Posted by in Attic Ventilation, Buying/Maintaining a Home, Roof, Water Sources, Winter Concerns | March 12, 2018

See those long, beautiful icicles and the ice dam? But wait – there is no gutter along the rear slope of this dwelling (see Figure 1).  How can there be an ice dam and icicles?  Just lucky, I guess. Note… Read More →

Time for Icicles and Ice Dams

Posted by in Roof, Water Sources, Winter Concerns | February 26, 2018

So you think winter is over? Not yet.  It’s got one or two last hoorahs. It’s still that time of year for icicles and ice dams. What can you do to avoid them now?  Nothing, except use a roof rake… Read More →

What Happened Here?

Posted by in Roof, Shingles, Simple Forensic Methods, Winter Concerns | July 17, 2017

The shingles along the eave of roof exhibit broken and dislodged tabs and surface gouges (Figure 1). What could have caused this?  Vigorous ice removal. The damage is along an area that was reportedly covered with ice (see featured photograph).… Read More →

The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!

Posted by in The Unusual, Weather Events, Winter Concerns | March 20, 2017

“The sky is falling, the sky is falling”, said Chicken Little.  No my little feathered friend its just ice…very large pieces of ice.  See featured photograph. Throughout our years of structural investigations we have seen various building components, such as,… Read More →

Snow Removal on a Roof

Posted by in Buying/Maintaining a Home, Roof, Snow Loads, Winter Concerns | January 09, 2017

We have had a few articles regarding removing snow from a roof. Here is our latest.  It’s a long overdue follow-up to Chalk Up Another Victory Over Ice Damming where I discussed buying a roof rake. Here is the application:… Read More →

What Can We Tell from This Photo? (Case Study 13)

Posted by in Apparent Mold/Biological Growth, Case Studies, Roof, Winter Concerns, Wood | February 22, 2016

The feature photograph was taken in an attic during a warmer month of the year.  It documents the condition on the underside of the roof deck.  This photograph provides valuable information regarding the scope and history of airborne moisture in the attic. From… Read More →