caption, page 7:

 

Ice Dam

Snow on the unheated part of a roof turns to ice which sits in the gutter which forces melting snow from above to leak into the house. Linda Lemmon photo.

 

Ice dams:

Winter's

villain

By Linda Lemmon

Town Crier Editor

The equation is like a bad brumal penny: winter plus snow, plus cold, plus melting equals ice dams which equals stained ceilings, disintegrating plaster and, in general, gnashing of teeth.

Anatomy of an ice dam: The eaves of a house are cold, unheated. When snow builds up at the eave, in the gutters, it freezes and builds up, creating an ice dam. It's trouble when warm air from the home goes up through the ceiling to the roof and melts the snow cover there.

The snow melts and flows down the roof --- until it hits the ice dam. The water backs up and is forced under the shingles and the underlayment.

From there gravity takes over and the water flows through attic the insulation, flattening it and making it less energy efficient. It continues on its journey and flows into the wall cavity and onto the ceilings, soaking through to the interior.

Gnashing of teeth.

The culprit in this winter tragedy is the warm attic. If the attic were cold, if the air underneath the roof deck were cold, there'd be no melting on the roof and no "liquid fuel" for the ice dam.

Experts recommend insulation in the roof of at least R-38 and making sure that the ridge vent is functioning.

Special care should be taken for the biggest, most forgotten entry for warm air into the attic: the trap doors into the attic. There are insulation kits available for these.

And when the next winter season starts, experts recommend that every time it snows --- even if it's just an inch --- get out there with the roof rake. This will prevent an ice dam for even getting a start.

What to do with the current ice dam problem? 

Keep up with the roof raking to take away some of the "ammo" for the ice dam. Many pack old pantyhose legs with ice melt, attach a rope to it and swing it into place, perpendicular to the gutter near the downspout. This cuts a channel into the ice dam, allowing melting water a way to leave the roof. Do not use rock salt in the pantyhose. 

 

 

Girls’ Wrap-up

Tournament 

time on the

horizon

By Ron P. Coderre

Three local teams remain standing in high school girls’ basketball as Tourtellotte, Plainfield and Putnam prepare for the CIAC Tournament.  The Lady Panthers and Lady Tigers are also immersed in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Tournament.  Both teams picked up victories in the play down round of the event. 

It was a dismal week for the Marianapolis V1 and V2 teams as they went a combined 0-3.  Pomfret School with a shot at the NEPSAC postseason lost two of three games.  Hyde-Woodstock split a pair of games.

Tourtellotte and Plainfield 

Post ECC Tourney Wins

After closing out the regular season with a 55-44 victory over Parish Hill, the Tourtellotte Lady Tigers stepped into the play down round of the ECC Tournament with an exciting 36-34 win over Small Division nemesis St. Bernard.

Tourtellotte opened up a 22-15 lead on the Saints after three periods and had to withstand a strong offensive surge in the final stanza to capture the opener of the tourney.  It’s the second time in three meetings that Tourtellotte has beaten St. Bernard this season with all three games going down to the wire.

Allie Ablondi, who posted nine points in the win, made four free throws down the stretch to secure the win.  Deanna Lazzarra was the Lady Tigers high scorer with 11 points, while Jess Dodd chipped in eight and sophomore Abby Poirier added six.

The 17-4 Lady Tigers are now in the unenviable position of playing #1 seed and undefeated Norwich Free Academy in a quarterfinal contest at the Lady Wildcats gym.  The game pits NFA with a student population of more than 2000 against Tourtellotte with less than 300 students.  It’s a David versus Goliath battle.

Three players led by Ablondi with 17 points paced the win over Parish Hill.  Poirier (13) and Dodd (10) were also in double figures.

Plainfield got by its play down contest, beating Montville 55-42 behind a 23-point performance by Madeline Lorange.  Julie Jordan had 13 for the Lady Panthers, who move on to the quarterfinals against #4 seed Waterford in a game on the Plainfield home court.

Earlier in the week Plainfield lost to New London, one of the State’s top teams, 68-58.  The Lady Panthers had four players in double figures as they acquitted themselves well against the Whalers.  Adrienne Lorange led the way with 15 points followed by her sister, Madeline with 12 and Jordan and Morganne Collins with 10 points apiece.  Plainfield is 13-8 on the season.

Putnam didn’t do itself any favors as it prepares for the CIAC Tournament, as it lost both of its games last week to drop to 10-10 on the season.  The Lady Clippers were beaten by University Prep 50-20 and by Wheeler 53-19.

Lawless Scores 1000th Career Point at Pomfret

The highlight of the week for the Pomfret School ladies was standout Juliette Lawless scoring her career 1000th career point in a 38-33 win over Kingswood-Oxford School.  Lawless posted eight points in the win.  Alyzae Davis with 21 points was the high scorer for the Lady Griffins.

Earlier in the week Pomfret was felled by Cheshire Academy 66-56 despite 23-point performances by Lawless and Davis.  The team closed out last week’s action falling to Tilton Academy 73-56.  The Griffs, who are 12-8 on the season, were in the game until the high scoring Davis, who had 27 points, fouled out.  Lawless had 13 in the loss.

Hyde-Woodstock also split a pair of games last week, beating The Williams School 44-23 and losing to The Lincoln School 54-15.  Traniece Mims, with 26 points, paved the way to the victory over Williams, while her teammate Dossou Ndiaye added 16.  The Wolfpack is 4-12 on the season.

The Marianapolis V1 unit was beaten by Tilton Academy 61-38, dropping below .500 on the season at 10-11.  The Little Lady Knights suffered a similar fate, losing to The Wheeler School 52-30 and to The Lincoln School 35-19.  They are 4-10 on the year.

 

Honored

BIDDEFORD/PORTLAND, Maine — Kerribeth A. Szolusha of Woodstock was named to the dean’s list for the 2014 fall semester at the University of New England. 

 

On dean’s list

ITHACA, N.Y. — Pomfret Center native Sangita Burke was named to the dean’s list for the fall 2014 semester at Ithaca College.