Winter brings with it snow and glistening ice. Along with the enchantment of icicles hanging along your home’s eaves comes the trouble that they contain. These “beautiful” glistening spears of frozen enchantment hanging on the edges of a roof can cause a number of problems including:
- Water leaking into the building itself damaging walls, ceilings and other parts of the home/structure.
- Mold growth resulting in respiratory illnesses.
- Water from leaks causing paint to peel and blister.
- Wet insulation that can lead to more heat escaping to the roof.
- Damaged roof sheathing and roof leaks.
How to Prevent the Dams from Forming?
Ice dams occur when snow melts on a warm roof and the water refreezes across the eaves. As more water melts on the roof, it backs up behind the frozen ice creating larger pockets of ice to form.
Prevention of ice dams from forming may seem fairly simple – keep the entire roof the same temperature as the eaves. The question is how do you do that? These precautions will help maintain the entire roof temperature as well as reduce heating bills.
- Vent Eaves and Ridge – A ridge vent paired with continuous soffit vents circulates cold air under the entire roof. Baffles placed at the eaves can maintain a clear path for airflow from the soffit vents.
- Cap Hatch and Attic Fans
- Exhaust Vents Properly – Vents from the kitchen, bathroom and dryer should be vented through either the roof or walls not the soffit.
- Add Insulation – By adding insulation to the attic floor you will keep the heat where it belongs. Most experts recommend the R-value of attic insulation to be at least R-30. R-38 is preferred in northern climates.
- Install Sealed Can Lights – Older can lights give off a great deal of heat into the attic. Remember that these older can lights cannot have insulation added on top of them due to potential fire hazard.
- Flash around Chimneys – Use sealed flashing to bridge any gaps between the chimney and house frame. A fire-stop sealant should be used to keep it in place.
- Seal and Insulate Ducts
- Caulk Penetrations – Electrical cables and vent pipes should be sealed with a fire-stop sealant.
- Heated Cables – Installing heated roof cables can help prevent ice dams from forming. This solution allows you to equalize the roof temperature by heating it from the outside. Cables need to be installed before bad weather occurs.
- Clean all Gutters and Down Spouts – Downspouts and gutters should be properly cleaned in order for melting roof snow to flow properly.
How do you Remove Existing Ice Dams?
There are several methods you can use to remove ice dams. These include:
- Apply Cold Air – take a box fan into the attic and aim it at the underside of the roof where the leak is happening.
- Use A Roof Rake – A long handled roof rake can help remove snow from the roof and deposit it onto the ground. Roof rakes with wheels are recommended so shingles are not damaged.
- Use A Pantyhose – A creative method to remove the dam after it has formed is to fill the leg of a discarded pair of pantyhose with calcium chloride ice melter. Lay the hose onto the roof so it crosses the ice dam and overhangs the gutter. The calcium chloride will eventually melt through the snow and ice and create a channel for the water to flow down into the gutters and off the roof.