Water damage from ice dams can be costly!

1/1/2020 (Permalink)

Ice dams are quite literally dams of ice that form during the Winter months inside of your property's gutters or roofing. The water runoff from any snow that has accumulated on your roof can pool in your gutters and build up as ice. As these areas build up they end up creating what we know to be ice dams. Ice dams will continue to block the path of any water that is running off of your roof and can force it to begin pooling in and around the shingles of your roof. Once this has begun it is only a matter of time before the water is able to force it's way inside your roofing and beginning to damage both your roof and potentially deeper inside of your home.

There are ways to prevent this though. Get heating cables and running them along the opposite side of any problem locations, throughout your attic. This will keep the areas where pooling and ice forming to a much smaller degree. Instead of gradually building in size it will be able to now properly drain out of your gutters. 

The forming of ice dams also tends to mean that the attic of your home is not keeping the heat where it needs to be. This can be fixed by having professionals come in, take note of the area, and installing more insulation where needed to help lock in the heat your house is already producing. This is a natural way to combat ice damming, as the increase in average temperature in the attic can be the one thing that is preventing any water from icing over.

Stay safe this winter season, and if you intend on directly dealing with any problems you or your family are facing be sure to be careful. Many instances of people getting hurt while they are attempting to help themselves or their family are due to negligence.