How damned is this ice?

Post date: 2021-01-12 06:38:42

We moved to a 1950s-era house that has a not-very-steep roof, deep eaves, no gutters. There's ice buildup on the roof in a spot where two parts of the house intersect, a v-shaped area that gets little sun. Should we try to remove that ice (with one of those socks or something) or is it okay to leave it there so long as the eaves below that spot are clear?

The ice is a foot or two in from the edge of the roof but it's a good 3-4" thick. No leaks (yet?) It's a single-story so it's not hard to rake some of the snow off and we can get on a ladder to knock icicles down from above, which is less likely to harm the shingles I gather than just going off on them from below, tempting though it may be. Part of me says "this house has been fine since the fifties, and there have been much worse winters, so why worry?" but then the anxious part says "yeah, but that garage that creates the shade was added only a few years ago so don't relax." (And then there's the part that says "at least you don't have that horrible landlord anymore, suck it up" which, curiously enough, doesn't really help.) I've read previous ice damnation posts here, and ... maybe I'm overthinking this.

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