How to stop ice dams in tight spaces above second-floor windows
Ice dams form on shaded, hard-to-reach roof sections and architectural bump-outs where tight spaces prevent traditional insulation fixes. This leads to recurring water intrusion around second-floor windows every year, forcing homeowners to find solutions that do not involve climbing onto a two-story roof.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1remediating damage on the inside
- 2considering heat cables as a solution
- 3Installing heat trace wiring as a band-aid solution
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“my house was subjected to some ice dam situations around some of my windows on the 2nd floor.”source ↗
“This window had the most water intrusion, followed by the middle window.”source ↗
“I'm not sure what adding any insulation would do here, if it is even possible, as you can see where my windows "bump out" from away from the facade of my house.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5Why is my ductwork dripping condensation inside the walls?
- 2Why is there condensation and damp spots on walls only on laundry days?
- 14HVAC lineset leaking through the roof
- 4Basement window level with the ground water leak prevention
- 4How to stop roof water from overflowing and rotting the window sill
- 7How to temporarily waterproof a damaged roof until replacement