Dealing with Ice Dams
With the extremely heavy snowfall that the eastern seaboard has seen this season, ice dams are becoming a common problem. Ice dams occur when when melting snow and ice refreeze around the eaves of a roof and prevent water from flowing off the structure, thereby creating a dam. This dammed up pool of moisture then sits at the edge of the roof. Roof coverings like shingles and shakes are not designed to protect the structure from this situation. A roof system is designed to protect the structure from fall precipitation and quickly move it off the structure. When an ice dam occurs it’s like submerging your roof under water. The system can’t handle the constant presence of water and the higher pressure from the water mass so the water forces through the shingles and felt and eventually through to components that are damaged like insulation and drywall.
The physics behind why these occur basically revolved around the heating and freezing cycle. Snow melts at the peak of the roof because warm air rises inside the structure. Then when temperatures drop at night the cooler portion of the roof, at the gutter line, the water freezes. Run this cycle out a few days and you can end up wit a significant amount of ice.
What to do if you have an ice dam. There are a couple of steps to deal wit an ice dam if you have immediate issues. First is to get the snow off the roof. Caution! Any person on the roof during the winter or performing work on the roof from below is risking injury. You also can cause serious damage to the roof and the house. It is important to contact professionals to carry out this job.
The only thing a homeowner can do that is safe and will not damage the house is to create a channel through the dam to get the pool of water off the roof. This can be accomplished with a garden hose on an above freezing day. Work up from the bottom of the dam spraying it with a focused stream. Eventually the water will melt a groove in the dam and allow the pool of water to flow off the roof. This is, however only a temporary fix as the dam will reform quickly if the snow is not removed from the structure. This will stop the water damage in the home and give you time to contact a roof professional to alleviate the problem.
Article via Home Improvements News
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