How do I protect rain gutters from ice damage?

[plowhog]

Here is a picture of the gutter, damage, and profile of the metal roof.

The eave extends about 3 feet past the metal building, and I believe this is a contributing factor. So right now I am leaning toward heat tape along the top of the roof above the eave, and inside the gutter as well.

 

[LouNY]

I just ordered a set of heated steps pads , 10” x 30” plus a 3’ x 5’ heat mat for my front steps. Sick and tired of shoveling steps.

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I put some electric heat mats (ThermoSoft) in my walkway and kitchen step this summer when we replaced the concrete.
Turned them on last night and this morning for a little bit. Had some snow that had turned to ice this morning after having the mats on for 2 hours I could take a shovel and scoop up the ice and get rid of it.
I have (2) 24" by 24 ft and (2) 24" by 5 feet with my electric at almost $0.20 KWH when they are all turned on it will be costing me about $1.20 per hour.
So I'll still be removing most of the snow, but the house eve drips on the concrete as the roof snow melts when the water hits the concrete it's instant ice. This is the North East side of the house so it gets almost no sunlight on the concrete in the winter.
We just put new siding, soffits and fasia on the house and it isn't set good for gutters which would also have to have heat to prevent completely freezing full including the down spout.
Previously we just didn't use the kitchen walk door in the winter because the ice made it almost impassable much of the time.

 

[LouNY]

Here is a picture of the gutter, damage, and profile of the metal roof.

The eave extends about 3 feet past the metal building, and I believe this is a contributing factor. So right now I am leaning toward heat tape along the top of the roof above the eave, and inside the gutter as well.
View attachment 836052

It's a shame the gutters couldn't be lowered 6 inches and then adequate heat reasonably applied to keep them from filling with ice.

 

[plowhog]

It's a shame the gutters couldn't be lowered 6 inches and then adequate heat reasonably applied to keep them from filling with ice.

I will look to see if that is possible. But if ice is breaking free and sliding down, it seems it would still catch the gutter?

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

Just put cheap ice guards on, no need for heat

 

[BlueKnife]

It extends about 3 feet past the exterior wall, 4 in 12 pitch. The building sales person talked me into that configuration to make it more fit in with a "high end residential rural area" and I agree. I regret that decision to this day, for this issue and more.

I'm talking about the metal roofing itself. It should extend past your eaves, over the gutters 1-3 inches. If it's closer to 3 inches, you may be able to lower the gutters enough for the snow and ice to go over top of them. If you lay a straight edge on the roof, over the gutters, you want to outside edge of the gutters to be lower the straight edge, ideally 1-1.5 in. lower. Doing this, combined with the metal roofing being out about an inch in from the outer edge of the gutter allows the sliding snow to shoot out over the gutter rather than getting hung up and ripping it off. Is this building insulated? Heated? In almost all cases, the more overhang you have, the better. It helps to better protect the whole building, all the way down to the foundation.

My building is properly engineered for snow load for the area. And after LAST year, I know I am safe. We have an unbelievable winter that will likely never recur in my lifetime.

I was talking about bigtiller's building, not yours. He/she mentioned that a Morton building salesman said they roof should be metal to prevent snow build up.

 

[BlueKnife]

I will look to see if that is possible. But if ice is breaking free and sliding down, it seems it would still catch the gutter?

The ice doesn't just go off the edge of the roof and immediately drop straight down. It sort of curves as it slides off the edge of the roof. The idea is to get the gutter on the inside of that curve, like a surfer inside a big wave.

 

[grsthegreat]

Just put cheap ice guards on, no need for heat

They put ice guards on my new carriage barn. They all tore off the first year and left 50 holes in roof.
ill never use those again.

 

[plowhog]

Is this building insulated? Heated?

It is a 60x60 metal building, 4:12 roof pitch with about 3 ft overhang at the eaves, 6" insulation on interior walls and ceiling, and heated .... sort of. It is not heated to comfort standards but has a Reznor 250k btu propane heater that prevents the interior from going below the mid-30's to prevent internal freezing. 40F temp on the inside is not uncommon at all, often warmer during the day.

In my climate, it is frequently below freezing at night, and frequently above freezing in the day. During the day there is significant UV exposure leading to rapid snow melt. So lots of freeze/thaw cycles.

 

[BlueKnife]

They put ice guards on my new carriage barn. They all tore off the first year and left 50 holes in roof.
ill never use those again.

That'd be caused by incorrect installation or an incorrect product for the application. Doesn't mean all ice guards are at fault.