Ice buildup on roof with gutters

[thoom42]

hi

two sections of my roof come together (with the metal channel) right above my front door (at a 90-degree section of the roofedge),

I have gutters and in the summer the rain rolls down the channel, into the gutter and down the downpipe.

In the winter, ice builds up at the bottom of the channel, filling the gutters with ice and overflowing as drips and icicles onto my front stepts creating a very dangerous situation

Is this caused by lack of insulation or venting in the roof, by incorrect gutters, global warming or some other cause?

any suggestions for a solution?

thanks!

[kactuskid]

That metal channel is called vally flashing. Sounds like you could have an ice damning problem in the winter. This is mainly do to insuffiecient ventillation and insulation. Of course contributing factors are if your bathroom exhaust fan exhaust into the attic instead of out through the roof. Along with lots of other penetrations that could be allowing warm air up into the attic space from below. Here's a link that'll tell you about the causes and cures for ice damns, hopefully it'll help you out some.

http://housing.cce.cornell.edu/f-sht-pdf%20libraries/HOUSING%20F-SHTS/maint&repair-pdfs/attic%20condensation.pdf

You can also buy some heat cables to stick up there in the winter time that will help to prevent the ice from ever occurring and allow the water to flow down into your gutters and away. Let us know if you need more help or info.