Winter's a tough time of year. Sure making snowmen, skiing, and cozying up to a warm fire at night during a snowstorm are all fun activities but letting ice build up in your townhome's roof gutters can lead to major headaches and unnecessary expense.

This year, New Jersey residents saw three snowfalls well before Christmas. Not a pleasant scenario, but there's sure to be more of the white stuff before spring rolls around. It's never too late to think about winter maintenance and keeping ice- and snow-related worries to a minimum.

Ice Damming

One perennial cold-weather problem for suburban associations is ice damming, which is the term used to describe what happens when ice forms in roof gutters and downspouts and creates a dam, resulting in a buildup of water.

"As it travels down the roof plane, any rain or melted snow, will be dammed by the ice," says Andrew Amorosi, a professional engineer with Falcon Engineering in Somerville. "It can't get in the gutter, it can't drain away, so it pools on the roof surface. It usually freezes at night, and melts during the day and gets into the roof's interior, then into the unit."

The result is a leak, thanks to the structural damage caused by the constant freeze-and-thaw cycle, and because for the most part, roofs aren't made to handle the weight and constant saturation of large amounts of standing water and ice.

"Shingles aren't necessarily watertight," Amorosi says. "If the water is sitting against the ice dam, it can find its way under the roof shingles and into the gaps between the sheeting—no matter how new the roof, there are gaps there. So if you have a pool of water lying there, naturally it's going to find its way through the roof and into the building."

Amorosi says the main reason for ice damming is poor ventilation in the structure below, which results in too much accumulated heat in the attic, which warms the roof.

"Ideally, an attic space should be as cold as the outside air," Amorosi says. "Because when it's warm, it's going to melt the snow on the roof. When the melting snow travels around the overhang of the roof, that area is going to be much cooler, so the water freezes in the gutters and dams them up."

A properly ventilated attic prevents snow from melting. Amorosi says that a roof with no snow visible on it the day of or the day after a heavy snowfall probably has a venting problem—the attic space beneath the roof is too warm, resulting in the quick melt.

Proper ventilation at the higher and lower ends of the roof are needed to prevent this, says Amorosi. "That causes a chimney effect where the cold air comes in through the gutter side of the roof and it exits out the top of the roof—usually through a ridge vent or a dome vent. The cold air comes in and goes out, and it keeps the attic properly vented and temperatures low."

Amorosi says he's even encountered situations where a condo unit's heating apparatus is actually located in the attic space, which obviously causes the roof to heat. "Whether you're vented or not, that will add additional heat into the attic space," he says. "That's something that needs to be addressed."

Something else Amorosi says to keep an eye out for are the leader drains that come off the gutter. If those are buried under snow, melted water can't drain out, and so it freezes there, causing a backup.

Obviously, proper maintenance of a roof is important in keeping it in sound condition. Flashings need to be in place and in good condition, ice and water shields need to be installed, and drip edges are needed to keep water and wind-driven rain out of areas underneath shingles. Roofs should last around 20 to 25 years but many show signs of wear-and-tear much sooner.

According to Amorosi, "In communities more than 15 years old, if the roofs weren't put on perfectly during the original construction, they may start to exhibit problems. You can have a great roof that's 17 years old, and then in Year 18, you have 50 leaks. The shingles can become brittle, for example, because—again—improper venting causes premature structural failure, and once the shingles start blistering and cracking, water can get in there and you start to have leaks." As a result, Amorosi suggests getting roofs inspected yearly after 15 years.

Getting Out of the Gutter

In addition to watching out for signs of ice damming, your association's gutters also need to be cleaned regularly (before the winter, ideally) because of the danger posed by accumulating ice. If more and more water builds up in the gutters and freezes, the entire gutter structure can pull away from the building because of the excess weight, causing serious damage and posing a major threat to anybody walking along underneath.

"Before the winter, after the leaves fall off the trees, you must have your gutters cleaned—that's a must," says Evan Glaser, owner of Gutter Master in Jackson. Glaser admits that that was tough to do this year, because New Jersey had three snowfalls before winter officially arrived. But if your building's gutters haven't been cleaned yet this year, it's not too late—get it done before the real serious snow starts falling.

It's also important to make sure your gutters are pitched properly, Glaser adds. That's making sure the gutter is at the right angle or "pitch" so that the water flows properly to the downspout and doesn't accumulate or pool, causing—you guessed it—ice damage.

"We tend to take it for granted that these are properly installed," Glaser says. "Our company uses a level in any gutter that we install, but not all companies do. It's very easy to see when you're doing a cleaning whether or not the gutter is pitched properly by evidence of standing water and debris collecting more in one specific area than another."

Your gutter contractor should also inspect for any loose nails. If these aren't repaired, the gutter could fall away from the house, not only leaving your building gutter-less, but risking damage to property or people below.

Timing is of the essence when it comes to gutter care. Unlike other annual winterizing rituals, you can't get your gutters cleaned in September or October and get a jump on the really cold weather. You have to wait until all the leaves have fallen off the trees, yet still get it done before the real cold weather arrives.

Glaser says the ideal time to schedule gutter and downspout appointments is early December—but that management needs to act early to schedule an appointment.

"They should get the bidding process underway by some point in October," Glaser says. "This way they can have their approval done by the first part of November. Then they can call the company that they're going to go with and get on the schedule before the winter really hits."

Heating Units

Other areas of a condo or co-op that need to be checked before or during the winter months include the heating unit.

According to Gerald Warren of G. Warren Inc. Home Inspections, an American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI)-certified member, heating units and water-heaters often aren't well maintained in condos—particularly when the unit is rented out.

"What happens is the owner isn't getting called, and a tenant doesn't care as long as there is heat coming on," Warren says. "In the meantime, the unit hasn't been serviced and it's putting out carbon monoxide, so it's potentially a very dangerous situation."

Another area that should have an eye kept on it during the winter months is the balcony. Because people tend not to hang out on a balcony or deck when it's 20 degrees outside, structural problems and deterioration are harder to monitor. That's why the condition of the deck should be checked periodically, even in cold months when the balcony or terrace isn't in use.

On properties where the association is responsible for the upkeep of balconies, management should take an occasional look because it's very possible the unit owner won't look at the deck at all during the winter. Unit owners should look their decks and balconies over every so often, especially if they are responsible for the deck's maintenance.

"Decks are usually wood, so you want to keep your eye for any wood that rots," Warren says. "Nobody goes out there during the winter, and very few people really maintain their decks. Then in the spring you have a party and you could have an accident." Any rotted wood will, of course, get worse over the winter if it's covered with ice and snow.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

If your association scheduled your yearly gutter maintenance visit back in the fall, congratulate yourselves on being ahead of the curve and on top of your maintenance game. If you let it slide this year, there may still be time to get the dead leaves raked out and the support structures checked before the inevitable late-season blizzard descends upon the region and makes any inspection or repair of your gutter system and/or balconies extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Winter brings with it a host of maintenance concerns, from salting and shoveling the sidewalks to making sure there's enough wood chopped for the fireplace. With conscientious maintenance and upkeep, your roof structure, gutters and downspouts will be one less thing you have to worry about.

Anthony Stoeckert is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to The New Jersey Cooperator.