Try to eliminate ice dams caused by heat loss

Q. I need to replace the gutters on the new addition to my house. The gutters broke on each side of the addition due to heavy ice dams. My roof often develops large ice dams where the new and old parts of the house come together. I have a metal roof, and the dams form because the installation of the roofs is different. I try to shovel the snow off the roof whenever feasible.

What should I install to withstand the weight of the ice dams? Should I purchase metal or vinyl seamless gutters, and should they be installed in a special way? Is there a certain product, store or brand name to look for when purchasing gutters? Am I better off having them installed by professionals? As always, I value your opinion.

A. The first thing to consider is eliminating the ice dams. They are caused by heat loss from the conditioned space, which causes the snowpack to melt. The water runs under the snowpack until it hits an area that is below freezing — a porch, overhang, gutters, etc. -- at which time it freezes. As more snow melts, gutters fill with ice and ice dams build up.

If you eliminated the heat loss, the snowpack would not melt and the gutters would not freeze up. Not knowing the construction of your house, there is not much I can suggest to take care of this problem.

If you can send more details and some photos, I may be able to suggest some ways to prevent the heat loss responsible for the ice dams.

As for gutters, seamless aluminum gutters are best, and the installers need to attach them with enough brackets or gutter spikes to hold them in place under any event. Consider spending a little extra for commercial gutters (6-inch instead of 5-inch) and commercial downspouts (3- by 4-inch, instead of 2- by 3-inch). They are well worth the small difference in price, as they are unlikely to clog and require less maintenance.

Q. I really enjoy your column every week and never miss it. I wrote to you awhile back about people calling concrete “cement,” and I noticed that it is properly being referred to now.

I have a problem with my garage door that you may be able to help me with. For the last two winters, when the outside temperature consistently goes below 30 degrees, the door won't stay down after it closes. It comes down and then goes right back up. I'm an engineer, and I checked all the obvious things that may affect the door's operation. Nothing helps. I even called Genie customer service, and a technician led me through a checklist that I physically performed while on the phone. Nothing the technician suggested resolved the problem.

Again, the only difference between when the door works and doesn't work is the temperature. Have you ever run into this problem? Do you have any suggestions?

A. The reason cement slabs are properly referred to as concrete in readers' questions is that, after years of printing readers' questions as sent, I now correct the terminology. I tried to educate my readers by using the correct terminology in my answers, but it didn't always work. I still get emails and letters referring to concrete as cement. It's not likely to change any time soon.

Obviously, the technician did not tell you that Genie door openers have flawed technology. Their external limits can be affected by cold temperatures. The sensors do not read the magnets that control the proper operation of the door, so the door reverses. My contacts in the industry told me that Genie has known this for years but hasn't done anything to correct the problem.

If the company will not help you resolve this problem, consider getting a different brand of opener.

Q. We are 65 years old and need to re-side our small home. We are wondering if vinyl siding is our only option because of our advancing years. While my husband is very fit and handy and capable of installing the siding himself, we have heard very different advice on how to maintain white cedar shingles. (We have opted to not repair the clapboard siding because of the need to repaint.)

I grew up on Cape Cod — though now live landlocked in central Massachusetts — so “home” to me is the silvery and charcoal-colored white cedar shingle siding of the seacoast. Around here, the cedar seems to age quickly to black and brown and rot. I thought perhaps it was the difference in the climates, or the fact that today's cedar shingle is not yesterday's.

But when I contacted a small lumber mill to ask about maintenance, I was told that the problem of the local rotting cedar is due to kiln-drying, which breaks the closed cells of the wood. While the mill suggested pre-finishing the air-dried shingles with Cabot bleaching oil, I was assured that the online information I was seeing, that the shingles need to be washed with bleach every two years and recoated with a preservative/stain, is not necessary. It was suggested I might never need to recoat the shingles if we used Cedar Breather, but pressure-washing was recommended in 10 years' time to avoid mold.

I know you favor Amteco's TWP. Is TWP 105 Cape Cod Gray equivalent to Cabot's bleaching oil? What should be involved in maintaining select white cedar shingles? If a preservative needs to be reapplied, is it brushed on, or can a sprayer be used? Need it be washed with bleach biannually? We don't want to jump from the frying pan of painting clapboard into the fire of needing to wash and recoat shingles even more frequently.

A. I take it that you are planning on replacing clapboards with shingles. You can apply the shingles directly over the clapboards, which will save you having to remove them.

White cedar shingles may rot quickly if they are applied directly over housewrap because, if not properly maintained, water penetrates them and causes them to cup and curl. All wood siding of any type should be backprimed and installed with a “rain screen” to allow its backside to dry.

Although vinyl siding has greatly improved over the years, and some manufacturers offer cedarlike colors and grain, real wood is hard to beat for beauty and value. The advantage of vinyl is that you won't need to paint it, but you may need to clean it occasionally if there are industrial or agricultural sources of pollution nearby. It also can become mildewed.

If you opt for cedar shingles, I would recommend the use of Cedar Breather to obtain a “rain screen” and breathing space behind the wood; it's the best way to keep any wood siding healthy. The shingles also should be coated with your choice of finish on all sides before installation — obviously a considerable task for your handy husband.

Cabot makes very good products, but to get protection against mildew, decay, insects and UV rays, you will have to use the company's Preservative Wood Finish line. Amteco TWP has all these features in its entire line, although it is not a bleaching oil product. I have used it on cedar clapboards at my house, and it has performed extremely well. You should not need to reapply it for years, and this can be done by brush or spray. It does not need to be washed with bleach, as it contains its own mildewcide.

Q. I just read your column in today's newspaper. One writer suggested that they have been venting their dryer into their home for heat and humidity purposes. If that is a gas dryer, isn't that very dangerous, as I would think carbon monoxide would also be released into the home (as it would by a gas furnace)? An electric dryer obviously would not emit the dangerous gas.

I would suggest that the release of carbon monoxide is far more dangerous than the increased humidity. Just a thought.

A. First, all gas dryers must be direct-vented to the outside; heat-recovery devices are not allowed in any code.

Now to answer your question. The amount of CO (carbon monoxide) that can be emitted by gas dryers is very low, and a dryer runs through a short cycle, unlike a furnace that runs frequently during cold temperatures. That is not to say that it is advisable to use a heat-recovery device on gas dryers: It is not.

Lint accumulation is a more serious problem in any dryer vent. The lint can occlude the vent and is a fire hazard. Dryer vents should be cleaned at least once a year with a special brush available in hardware stores. Some of the newer dryers, such as Bosch, have such efficient filters that hardly any lint leaves the dryer. Just don't forget to clean the filter after each load.

Q. I followed your suggestion regarding the Squeeeeek No More screws system for squeaky floors, and it has worked up to two points. One is that I have not been able to sink and break the screw lower than 1/8 inch instead of the recommended 3/8 inch, and I do not know why.

The other point has to do with my house, which was constructed in the late ‘60s in a manner I have never before come across. Instead of having the joist-plywood-floor strips, my flooring begins with the joists that are the standard 3x12. On these joists they placed boards of about 1.5x8, separated from each other by about 1/4 inch. Then, finally, they put on the strip flooring. In short, the distance from the top of the floor surface to the top of the joist is greater than the length of the screw from the break to the sharp point. Consequently, the strip flooring and the joist cannot be united by the screw.

My solution for the rest of the job (four bedrooms) is to countersink the screw on the strip flooring surface and then drive the screw beginning at 3/8 inch so it can reach the joist, skipping using any of the screw threads on the floor strips.

My questions are: Will my proposed method weaken the effectiveness of the screw? If so, could you recommend any other method to anchor the floor strips to the joists? Finally, do they make longer Squeeeeek No More nails?

A. The only reason O'Berry Enterprises mentions 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch is to have space for filling the screw holes with a compatible putty or crayon. If you have only 1/8 inch, that's good enough.

Your house has a different framing system composed of 3-by-12-inch joists, probably spaced more than 16 or 24 inches on center, with a 2-inch by 8-inch deck. There is no need to get longer screws to reach the joists; just screw into the decking.

Ÿ Henri de Marne was a remodeling contractor in Washington, D.C., for many years, and is now a consultant. Write to him in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or via email at henridemarne@gmavt.net. His book, “About the House,” is available at www.upperaccess.com and in bookstores.

© 2012, United Feature Syndicate Inc.