Ice Dams

With the joys of winter comes a common source of frustration; ice dams on our roofs that lead to water leakage, sometimes extensive and damaging.

Ice dams are becoming a more common problem as we add more and more insulation to our homes.

Why? Because the roof surface just above the eaves gets warm (the heat is held in the insulation below that area), the bottom layers of snow melt, the water runs down to the edge of the roof below, freezing temperatures are encountered and ice forms. As this process continues, a dam of ice forms.

Eventually, the dam extends far enough up of the roof that the water behind it is kept warm by the roof and doesn't freeze. As more water accumulates, it flows up under the shingles and leaks appear inside your home, sometimes in very unusual places as the water follows along framing members for great distances before appearing as a leak.

The key to correcting ice dam problems is proper ventilation. If the roof surface can be kept cold, the process of ice dam formation never gets started.

Now is the time to check your house for its ice dam potential.

Is there ventilation through the soffits?

Is the attic insulation stuffed tightly into the eave spaces and against the underside of the roof?

Is there adequate year-round ventilation in the attic?

Are your gutters clean and in good condition?

If NO was your answer to any of these questions, ice dams are likely in your home.

Before snow arrives, take time to improve the ventilation in the attic and eave area of your home. You may avoid some expensive and aggravating problems later on.

Wide metal flashing along the edge of your roof is another way to minimize ice dams. However, this will not eliminate the cause of the problem and can be easily damaged if you find reason to chip ice off the roof in the winter.

Electrically operated heat tape is another defense against ice dams. However, it is expensive to operate and can be a fire hazard if improperly used or abused. And, again, it does nothing to deal with the actual cause of the problem.

In the end, only keeping the roof surface cold with good ventilation will assure minimum problems with ice dams and related water leakage.

How To Correct Ice Dams