Preventing Ice Dams - Tips for Winter Roof Maintenance

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An effective roof is the foundation for home comfort. Ice dams can cause water intrusion, strain on your roof and damage to soffits and ceilings, all which contribute to making life comfortable at home.

Here are a few short-term solutions to prevent ice dams.

Table of Contents

1. Clean Your Gutters

Ice dams present a serious risk, as they provide a path for water to enter your house and cause extensive damage. Therefore, homeowners are advised to take preventative steps against these formations in order to lower the chances of them occurring.

One effective way to prevent ice dams is through regular gutter and eave cleanings. Use soft bristle brooms or power washers without steam boxes as metal-based products may damage shingles.

Another approach is using a calcium chloride de-icer that is safe for roofs. A nylon sock filled with the product should then be placed vertically across an ice dam to help melt and break apart its formation. In addition to using chemicals de-icers, it is also important that all roof leaks are sealed appropriately as well as providing enough attic insulation – this ensures colder roof surfaces while stopping hot air entering into your attic that contributes to ice dam formation.

2. Inspect Your Roof

Ice dams can create flooding problems within your home by forcing water up under the shingles, seeping under walls and floors, seeping into soffits or attics and eventually into your soffit or attic causing wood rot and other issues that require costly repairs.

One effective way of preventing ice dams from forming is by regularly clearing your roof of snow. There are tools such as snow rakes available at hardware stores that can assist in this task and ensure safe clearing of roof and gutter surfaces.

Calcium chloride de-icer can also be purchased from hardware stores and used to fill nylon socks and place them vertically along the edge of your roof, creating channels through which melting snow can escape. As climbing roofs is dangerous and professionals should always be contacted, this method may prove more efficient.

3. Inspect Your Soffits

Before winter hits, homeowners should conduct a careful inspection of their soffit areas for obstructions that limit proper ventilation, such as bird nests or structural issues that could restrict airflow and increase the chances of ice dam formation. Also make sure the attic hatch and ducts are appropriately insulated.

Underinsulation and air leaks are two primary culprits causing destructive ice dams to form on roofs during winter, prompting destructive ice dams. For lasting solutions to be achieved in this regard, home insulation as well as professional air sealing should be undertaken immediately.

Short-term measures to help avoid ice dams include cleaning your gutters before and between snowfalls, using a roof rake to clear away snow away from eaves and using an attic fan to temporarily freeze existing leaks in your attic. However, this task requires the assistance of someone more capable than yourself as this task requires great care without using ladders to complete.

4. Insulate Your Attic

Winter brings with it ice dams that form along roof edges and gutters, impeding the natural flow of melting snow and water through them into drainage channels. Ice dams can cause serious damage to a home’s roof, gutters, interior walls and ceilings over time.

Ice dams may appear due to cold temperatures, but more often they’re the result of heat transfer issues within a home such as inadequate insulation or ventilation issues. Heat escapes through the attic into warmer shingles and wood in this area before melting snow hits colder edges and refreezes forming an ice dam.

Good insulation prevents ice dams while saving energy, while air leaks and outdated, poorly insulated recessed lights (can lights) contribute to their formation. To permanently stop ice dams and ensure the safety of your roof, gutters, attic and home by solving all these issues at once.