Prepare Your House For Sale

Roof Ice Damming

Well, here it is winter and lots of snow in the Midwest. The ice damming is now becoming a big problem as roofs are covered in heavy blankets of snow. Some would say, this is just a picture perfect look for the Christmas holidays upon us, even the pretty icicles that are hanging down. Looks nice, but highly dangerous and destructive for you and your house. When to much snow is on the roof it becomes very heavy. This may be too heavy for the roof supports and cause possible breaking of these supports.

Now, ice damming can lead to water damage on the inside and outside walls of a house. When the outside temperatures rise the snow melts and goes towards the gutters and mounds the ice and starts creeping up the roof. Many houses through the years have put in ice and dam shields to protect their homes from ice damming. Those that do not have this can still have this ice melt and get into their homes walls. When the water gets into the walls it leads to damp dry wall or the break down the dry wall all together. This then can lead to excessive moisture in the walls and structure from the ice damming. We now know how destructive ice damming can be.

The ice damming comes from air flow in the attic areas of a home. Many times not enough insulation in the attic area allows heat to escape into this area and warms the roof causing the snow above to melt when it shouldn’t. You will see that many roofing professionals will tell you this a leading cause of ice damming. One way to help eliminate and control ice damming is to make sure you add a needed layer of insulation. You will see how this will help and also help your heating costs in the long run. The added insulation does not allow large amounts of heat to escape, therefore not heating the roof causes the snow to melt at a much slower rate. You might think, well is it not good to get the heavy snow off the roof by melting it faster? No, as the water hits the gutter area it cools and then becomes ice. The ice can then mound and creek up the roof line getting under the roof covering and then into the attic and walls.

The pitch of a roof can slow the ice damming also by not allowing the snow to stay on the roof. Even houses with low roofs can have less snow on it, but this is where people need to help their house and the ice damming. People need to hire people to remove the snow or buy roof rakes, which are a modified snow shovel for your roof and do it yourself. You need to get the snow 2-4 feet up from the gutter. This process will help to slow or eliminate the ice damming.

Some houses that have done the above and have a low pitch roof, may add roof and gutter heaters. These systems don’t allow the water to freeze again and then it runs off the way it should. This way not allowing the water to refreeze causing an ice dam.

These tips should get you and you ice damming in the right direction. If you are in the Midwest, greater Milwaukee area, drop me an e-mail and maybe I can help you with your individual problems on your house. Even if your not in this area, feel free to leave me an e-mail and I will try to help you also.

Remember, Safety First