Ice And Water Code

stcspiderman

I was wondering what the rules on ice and water are I was doing this house and the inspector came buy and said whe need 100% ice and water on a porch I thought you only need 2 ice and water it the over hang it 2 feet or more. this is in minnesota

concretemasonry

What was the slope of the porch roof?

I rarely see that small amount of ice and water sheild anywhere on new construction.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

MJW

Are you licensed? If so, this is brought up every year in every class I have been to.
The new code says to do what is on the product package. The inspector cannot enforce anything more than what the code says, but most of the time it is easier to do what they say and they know that. Some packages say two rows, some say 24" past the plate line. On a porch there is no plate line for the interior wall so yes it is all supposed to be ice shield. Is it needed????Probably not, depending on which way it faces and how much rain/ice/snow is coming off the top roof on it. This is why I say your roof is only as good as the products you have and the roofer's knowledge. Anyone can do the codes and get by, but a good roof can be a little more thinking than that.
By the way, the code says ALL roofs need I&W. Also the department of labor says All roofers are to be licensed with the state.

Grumpy

Typicaly the code is 1.5' past the exterior warm wall at the gutter lines. However we far exceed that code by doing valleys and flashings as well.

A good rule of thumb is 1' overhang = 3' ice shield. 2' over hang = 6' ice shield. Anything less than 3/12 shouldn't be shingles IMO but if it is, we ice shield the whole thing first. There are more considerations such as pitch and other factors but over all that's a good rule of thumb for a quality roof.

indm45

personally i think ice and water on eave edges on low slopes is ok, but to put it everywhere on the roof is an over kill i think.it,s like plastic cement that i have seen in valley repairs,draws moisture over a period of time.just my thoughts though.

RooferJim

4/12 down to 2/12 should be full I&W. steeper slopes call for 24" past warm wall.

RooferJim
www.jbennetteroofing.com

dougger222

Right now all buildings need ice and water but in the next couple months it may be changed to say unheated outbuildings do not need ice and water shield. The insurance companies are the only ones that will benifit from the change, IMO.

MJW

I haven't heard of any change coming. I know the code used to be that way.

tnt specialty

It's whatever the inspector says......

I know, the IBC/IRC says "blah, blah".......doesn't matter.

I always check with the applicable municipality before bidding &/or starting a roof.

MJW

Not true. There have been inspectors that have been brought to court and proven wrong for trying to enforce rules that aren't codes. The inspectors take the same classes we do for licensing. They are no different, except they can say or do something and not have to be responsible for it.

The code used to be the UBC, now I believe we are using the IRC 2006 with about 1000+ ammendments for MN.

theroofinggod

low pitch entire ice shield needs venting (soffit/clerestory),any pitch 2' past iterior wall,and gaf says on the box you should never put total ice shield on a roof section????(it works good w/aforementioned venting though

load351

We use it on all of our jobs, but it is not required by code. We still know people that do not use any ice and water, just felt, and sometimes that is optional. One of the roofers we run into said its optional, and sometimes he does not do the rest of the garage (if he runs out) and the shed roof on the chimeny chase.

theroofinggod

It`s not necessary for unheated structures,the chimney area is another story altogether(always)

MJW

Unheated really has nothing to do with anything unless the house is old and has alot of heat loss. Besides that, "unheated" areas or "heated" areas for ice shield is a wise tale. It really makes no sense.

tnt specialty

MJW,

Not in Colorado! I've been to court with a Denver inspector......Been there, done that...it's a crooked state!

RooferJim

It just makes good common sence not to skimp on your jobs if your a profesional. We use 6' of I&W on all roofs regardless of garage, dog house or whatever.

RooferJim
www.jbennetteroofing.com

Ed the Roofer

There are two variations of the code interpretation that I commonly deal with in my area.

One states that the I & W shield must go 12" past the exterior wall from the heated living quarters and the other states 24" past the wall.

Personally, I also include it on all garage eave adges and in every single valley and around every roof top penetration going up the walls or curbs whenever possible prior to the installation of new baby tin base step flashings.

Ed

dougger222

Here in MN there are several instructors who teach license re-newal classes who have contractors ask them to speak with inspectors on certain issues and they do. I think most instructors like telling the inspectors that what their telling the contractors to do is WRONG!!!

The best story told from an instructor was last year. A contractor came to him and said, "Is it illegal for another contractor to pull permits under another lic number?" What was happening was the un-licensed contractor was pulling permits in a town he knew the office people and they'd let him get away with it. The instructor asked, "Who's license number are they using?" The contractor replied, "Mine". A wee bit of corruption you think?

AaronB.

doesnt the code/wrapper state WARM WALL? In an unheated garage, there is no warm wall. What is the point?

Same on a porch..whjy do you need ice barrier on a porch?

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MJW

Ice is not always from heat loss. It is normally at the edge of the roof because it doesn't get as much saun as the higher parts of the roof. Gutters cause alot of the problems also. Like I said, heated or unheated makes no difference unless it is an old house with alot of heat loss.

Most packages say past interior wall line in a vertical line. Something close to that.