Any Magic Tricks For This?

Mics has the best solution, a cold attic. But it's hard to do especially with some two story houses without an attic. Here in Maine this is a very very common problem. Roofers have a rubber sheet they put on under the first several rows of shingles that help. But, from what I can see the roofs still will often leak or at least leak after a few years. Oh, BTW, gutters make it worse. As the snow builds up it crosses over to the gutters and the gutters help hold the ice on the edge.

Here is How I never, ever have any roof leaks. (beyond doing what Mics said above). When installing a roof or repairing one; on the first 6 feet. I put felt paper like usual then I put a row of roofing paper. That's the thick stuff but not the one with the rocks. Place it with few nails and tar the nails. Then overlap another sheet and roll it out but tar 6" where they overlap. Then… seal the edge of the seam again with tar. Next, lay your shingles but tar a few inches of the top half of the shingle that doesn't show being sure to completely tar the nails on each shingle. So you end up with shingles that are sealed from on row to the next. Tedious but it's only a few feet. It looks from the picture that you'd have a lot of short roofs and porches to do so you'd have to do this process for all of these.

The other solution is to install a steel roof. They really look nice now but are fairly expensive. Interestingly the material is not that much and the one or two day installation is what costs. i.e. a roof that might have $2000-$3000 in materials could cost 8000-10000 total. Steel roofs are easy to put up. You can find directions online in many places.

I'm not a roofer or even a contractor but I've put on both shingle and steel roofs for myself and relatives and a few paying people who wanted one of my roofs because for some reason Mine was the only one on the street that didn't leak.

The roof was re-done around 1995. I'm not certain, but I think they applied membrane because my parents would have told them about their ice difficulties. When my Dad did the roof himself back in "63 he went so far as to install copper flashing to the roof edges. But that only left less for the ice to cling to, with the result that it came down falling faster and would then rebuild and fall again. As far as heat loss into the attic, I agree and there is presently no insulation in the attic and only about a 6" vent in the whole roof. But that doesn't explain the porch, where some of the thickest ice is, nor the garage which is unheated as well.
The folks aren't alone in this of course, there are 100's of people in the area with similar problems. The guys that do something about it are out straight and you can't get anybody to come right away, you have to go "on the list".
Moving to Florida is a great idea, but trust me, they're not going anywhere until they get called to their Final Home….
Tenontim: just saw your post come in and believe it or not, my Parent's neighbor has been roof raking it!
The good news is that it has stayed cold, and windy, and the wind is slowly shrinking some of the ice, through erosion and moisture stealing. Come Spring, I'm going to try to talk the folks into insulating the attic. I can do that and also knock some holes through the eaves. Thanks to all for their help! Global Warming my eye!
Michael C.

I think that mics_54 and woodyoda have the answers. A hot roof (remember, ANYTHING above freezing is hot) will create those pesky ice dams in a flash. Insulate the heck out of it. Put more than is recommended. When summer comes around, peel back that roofing and install that bituthane roofing. I've heard it called "ice breaker" before. It's sticky and nasty, and the hot summer sun will make all those shingles melt right into each other… it really does a great job.

If your dad has to peel back the top 2 feet of his siding on his walls to get blown insulation down them, I'd do it. The warmer you can insulate that house, the more money he'll save in heating bills, and the less ice dams you'll have (if any) in the winter.

It looks like the garage doesn't have the ice dam problem, and the front porch (what I can see of it) doesn't either. The back porch, whether heated or not, looks like it's taking the water from above and then freezing.

Good luck, let us know how it works out.

Steve.