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Ice Damming
A major roof problem that typically occurs in colder climates is the build-up of heavy snow and the development of ice dams.
Ice dams form when heavy snow melts during the day, flows down to the cold overhang and freezes at night. After several melting-freezing cycles the ice dams will get larger.
Water can't flow uphill, so when the ice dams get large enough water can enter the attic and damage insulation, ceilings, walls, and even the building itself.
Leakage caused by ice dams does not indicate a workmanship issue with the roof installation.
Ice dam leakage can have several causes:
1. Weather: accumulation of several inches of snow & temperature below freezing for several days.
2. Poor attic ventilation caused by insufficient airflow from soffit vents for example.
3. Heat loss from inside the building due to insufficient insulation.
The best way to avoid leakage caused by ice dams is to prevent them from occurring. This can be done by taking the following steps:
1. Clean leaves, sticks, and debris from gutters and down spouts each Fall. This basic maintenance will allow melting snow to flow into the gutters and down the spouts as intended.
2. Remove the snow regularly from the roof with a roof snow scraper. By keeping the snow load to a minimum, it may help reduce the chances of an ice dam forming. You don’t’ have to clean the entire roof area, mainly the bottom edge of the roof, about 3 or 4 feet wide along the eave edge.
After cleaning off the bottom edge of the roof the snow should melt off when the sun comes out, this will help keep the eave edge free of ice.
We recommend calling Absolute Roofing to provide this service for you. We do NOT recommend you performing this service on your home, it is very dangerous. Absolutes personnel are highly trained and have performed this service hundreds of times.
3. During the winter, keep the gutters and down spouts free of snow, ice, and icicles. By using a roof snow scraper on a regular basis, your gutters and down spouts will be less likely to collect snow and ice and will continue to provide an outlet for melting snow. It can also help prevent damage to the gutters and down spouts that can result from the excess weight of ice and snow.
4. Upgrade the attic insulation R-Value*. If your home was built before 1978, consider upgrading the attic’s insulation to a minimum of R-30 (R-38 in colder climates). This will help keep the house warmer and the attic cooler, thereby reducing the chances of attic heat melting roof snow. Plus, you may enjoy the lower costs of an energy efficient home!
5. Evaluate the attic ventilation system*. Good airflow under the eaves and soffits promotes a cool and dry underside of the roof deck, preventing roof snow from melting. A quality ventilation system may also extend the life span of your roof by reducing dry rot and material cupping and curling.
6. Heat cables. In certain circumstances an electric ice melt cable may be a viable option. While not recommend as the first potential solution, it is something that may need to be considered. Commercial grade heat cable are recommended over residential grade cables.
Call Absolute Roofing and Construction, Inc. to help you out with these and all of your other roofing and exterior building needs.
This is a picture of a house with no overhang. It has working cables (see cable sticking out of snow above first window on left-hand side of house). The ice dam is on north side of house. The gutter is being destroyed.
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