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of Home Improvements

*Ice Damming*

Ice Dams usually occur after heavy snowfall and several days of freezing temperatures. Warm air inside your home leaks into the attic and will warm the underside of the roof causing snow and ice on the roof to melt. The melting water will drain along, under the snow, until it reaches the cold overhang. The overhang tends to be at the same temperature as the outdoors and the melting water will refreeze and form ice dam and icicles. They may look pretty but they can do serious damage to your home. The ice dam can cause damage to the roof, which will result in water leaks to the inside. Frequently the result will be worn spot on the ceiling under the roof damage.

Avoid getting on your roof and chipping away at the ice. This could cause additional roof damage and could cause serious injury to you.

Contacting a roofing contractor will not help you. This is not a roofing problem. Fixing your roof leak will not prevent future ice dams.

This is a problem caused 99% of the time by clogged gutters and air leaks in the home.

Seal the air leaks in the attic to stop warm air leakage (the source of the problem).

After sealing leaks add additional insulation to attic. Provide adequate attic ventilation so that the underside of the roof and the outside air are at the same temperature. Check to make sure the attic insulation is not blocking roof ventilation. Clean leaders and other debris from their gutters before the first snow. This will help prevent ice buildup in your gutters.

Hire a contractor who is an energy specialist or who specializes in air sealing to do an in home evaluation. A good specialist will use diagnostic equipment to evaluate the performance of the home and generate a customized list of improvements.

You may see some homes with a heating system a foot up or so on the roof and looped back and forth into the gutter. This helps to solve the problem after it occurs but doesn't do anything to fix the problem. I don't like the idea of an exposed heating element in my metal gutters with water all over them. It's not a good combination.

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