The roof, minus the heat tape

Things have been moving slowly in terms of getting the fire damage repaired.

My son-in-law Jason climbed up on the roof this last weekend to remove all the heat tape that’s lived up there for God knows how long.

The smaller heat tape just popped off. I probably could have re-used it but the arching only stopped once I unplugged the small tape. I figure it’s toast. Better safe than sorry. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Choose your platitude. The tape is history.

Jason got down to the nitty gritty and pulled the commercial heat tape off. It was in bad shape and the question is not why did it catch on fire but why didn’t it catch on fire? The wire in the gutter was burned and melted. You can see scorch marks where the wire touched the gutter and arched.

Here’s how bad it was, including how dirty the gutters were. The tape blocked drainage and there was almost 2 inches of pine needles, pollen and dirt in there. That gutter has never drained that well and that’s why.

Here’s the pile of commercial tape that found it’s way into the trash can:

This picture cracks me up! Jason conquers all!

The house without any heat tape and the roof looks BETTER:

I’m going to need something up on the roof for winter and I’ve contacted a local gutter company but they’re talking $3,000. My deductible is $1,000 and I’ve already paid $300.

This roof is advanced mountain living. Heat tape should be checked and/or replaced every few years. Especially tape that sits in the gutter! I’ll never put tape in the gutter ever again. There has to be a better solution for ice that won’t move.

Let’s see how it goes.