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Why It Is Dangerous to Let Ice Dams Form on Your Roof
May 28, 2020
Ice dams can cause very significant damage to your home. They can tear off your gutters, loosen up shingles from your roof, and they can lead to a water backup that will drain into your home. An ice dam will block water from draining off the roof and can lead to water leaking through your roof. Water that gets through the roof can cause some serious damage to your home and cost you a significant amount of money. Ice dams can pose a great safety concern. It is best to ensure you do not have an ice dam problem in the future by taking the appropriate precautions today. It is best to take precautions during the winter months to prevent ice dams from forming on your home.
How do ice dams form?
You may be curious as to what causes ice dams to form on your roof. Well for starters the higher end of the roof has to be just above 32°F while the lower end has to be below 32°F. This will lead to water running off the top end and freezing once it reaches the low end. All of this ice that is frozen on the low end is the ice dam. It prevents water from flowing off of the high end and this can lead to the water seeping through your roof and causing a leak.
Poor ventilation and excess hot air in the attic can lead to the differences in temperature that can result in ice dams forming on your roof.
How to prevent ice dams
There are a few different ways in which you can prevent ice dams from forming on your house. You can clean out your gutters thoroughly before winter. You should also ensure that your attic is properly insulated and has adequate ventilation. You should also try to remove any snow off of your roof before it freezes and becomes immovable.
There are other options that you have as well. A roof deicing system or roof ice melt systems will prevent ice dams from forming. They will melt all of the ice and snow off of your roof so an ice dam can never form. This will ensure that you will not have to deal with any potential headaches that an ice dam can cause.
If you are interested in a deicing system for your home so you can prevent ice dams, give Engineered Roof Deicing a call. We offer a variety of roof deicing solutions. Not sure which one will work best for your home? Contact our team and we can discuss your needs.
It's possible to eliminate ice dams with IceFree-LeafFree for Gutters! Explore this innovative ice dam prevention product offered by Engineered Roof Deicing.
Taking the necessary steps to prevent ice dams can be helpful & save you money in the long run. Contact Engineered Roof Deicing to learn about our related products!
Snow coverage, outside temperatures, and the heat loss from your home combine to form ice dams. When the snow on the roof's higher surfaces is above freezing, it will melt. As that water flows down your roof, it reaches spots that are colder and freezes, thus causing an ice dam. Taking action before the snow starts to fall can help stop ice dams from forming. Close Up Attic Bypasses - On average, about one-third of your home's heat loss is through the ceiling into the attic. Air leaks can be tough to identify and fix, but pulling back the insulation in your attic and repairing them with foam or caulk could make a huge difference. Check the Depth of Your Attic Insulation - Building codes require 12-14 inches of insulation in your attic. If you have less than 8 inches, adding more can eliminate ice dam issues. Add Roof & Soffit Vents - Adding ventilation in your attic draws in the cold air and flushes out the warm air. This not only cools your attic, but also cools your roof in the process. By keeping your roof a cool and uniformed temperature, there is less chance of ice build up. Rake Snow Off After Heavy Snowfall - A snow rake is an aluminum scraper mounted at a right angle, attached to a telescoping aluminum pole. A simple solution for heavy snowfall, this allows you to remain on the ground while removing snow from your roof. However, this is only a solution for single-story homes. Contact Engineered Roof Deicing! Our products consist of special high-quality ice melting and deicing products that truly work. Our goal is to prevent ice dams and the damage that they can bring along with them. Our services are available for commercial and residential clients so contact us today to discuss your needs and our solution to them!
Traditional zig-zag heat cables are designed to melt away ice and snow (less than 4 inches) in the area surrounding the cables. That said, zig-zag cables are essentially useless in areas where homes and buildings have 12 inches or more of snow on their rooftops. Despite popular belief, they’re not intended to clear the entire edge of the roof. Problems continued… Tunnels will form in the snow pack, resulting in the reformation of ice dams between, on top of, and all around the cables’ zig-zag pattern. With anything more than a moderate amount of snow, the cables simply can’t do anything to help. Zig-zag cables are unsightly during the warm weather months: a constant reminder even on warm, sunny days that winter will be back again! The roof deicing systems offered by Engineered Roof Deicing provide an attractive and cost-effective solution to ensuring that you never have to experience the frustration, destructiveness, and high cost of water damage caused by ice dams again. Our products are designed to handle even the harshest winter conditions and the largest snowfalls, so you can have the peace of mind and total protection that you want and need. Visit our Products page to learn more about our IceFree Eave Panels.
All of our products are guaranteed effective and provide the utmost safety. Thanks to our industry-leading deicing systems, icicles, ice dams, leaks, and shingle shifting can easily be prevented, thus ensuring your roof remains damage-free from the winter elements. IceFree Eave Panels This is our most popular workhorse product, as it provides the utmost protection for standard-sized eaves less than 24″ in length. It’s commonly used on homes and commercial buildings that don’t have overextensions or long soffits, as well as porches, carports, or patios. Valley panels are installed where two roofs meet at an angle, creating an indentation. IceFree Zone Panels This is a great overall protection system for commercial buildings with eaves and soffits that measure longer than 24″. It is also used to complement our IceFree Eave Panels in areas where porches, patios, or carports need extra protection. All of our different products seamlessly work in conjunction with one another, and we will help you design the perfect customized combination of products that is just right for your particular needs. IceFree-LeafFree Gutter Shield This incredible new heated gutter shield offers the highest levels of protection for your home, year round. Before now, consumers have had to choose between either dealing with debris clogging their rain gutters, or massive ice buildup as a result of using bulky helmet systems. Standard Heat Cables Our high-quality heat cables are placed directly in gutters and downspouts to prevent freezing in these critical areas. Learn More About Our Products
Engineered Roof Deicing’s heated roof panel systems provide total protection for your home or business from the hazards of ice dams and icicles. Our products help to prevent possible dangers and offer security by keeping the roof overhang and gutter areas completely free of ice and snow. The threats caused by ice dams are very real! Potential Threats to Your Home or Business: Water stuck behind ice dams can seep under shingles and leak through to your home’s interior, including the walls, ceiling, and attic. Leaks caused by ice dams can result in costly repairs. Mold and mildew growth can be a danger to your health and that of others, as well as your property. Bent and broken gutter systems, disfigured stucco, and severely damaged roofs are all consequences of ice dams. Water or structural damage can considerably reduce the value of your property. By protecting your roof from ice and snow damage with our heated roof systems, you are taking a proactive step toward securing your assets. The effectiveness of our heated panel technologies is second to none! Our innovative systems are the best defense against winter weather; they add value to properties and they prolong the life of your roof.
Myth #1 Solar radiation and heat have little effect on the formation of ice dams. Heat loss from inside the home is the main cause. FACT: The heat from the sun, which causes snow to melt on rooftops, hugely affects the formation of ice dams. You can try and prevent home heat loss all you want, but you can’t stop the sun from heating up your roof from the outside. *********************** Myth #2 Installing more insulation in the attic or better ventilating the area can prevent ice dams from forming. FACT: This is a very popular myth! Adding more insulation can certainly help to minimize the problem, but it won’t entirely prevent ice dams from forming. However, having too much insulation in the attic can cause the material to lose its efficiency, which is what it’s known for. By improving your attic’s ventilation system, you can make the temperature differential between the underside of the roof and the outside air less disparate. A colder attic may help to slow the melting process, but it won’t stop it altogether. *********************** Myth #3 Cold roofs will prevent the formation of ice dams. FACT: Cold roofs certainly help slow the melting of snow on rooftops. However, the effects of solar radiation are so overpowering that they trump the benefits of cold roofs. Unfortunately, snow melt and refreezing can never be totally prevented by the installation of a cold roof. *********************** Myth #4 Leaks caused by ice dams can be prevented by replacing existing shingles or installing more ice and water shield membranes on an existing roof. FACT: Water shield membranes and similar products are designed to prevent problems with condensation under the shingles in the summertime. Also, adding new shingles or a roof won’t solve old problems or prevent backed up water from seeping through to the home below. Bottom line, ice dams and icicles will inevitably return, even with new shingles and roofing. *********************** Myth #5 Zig-zag cables on the roof and/or heating cables in the gutters help prevent ice dams. FACT: Heating cables were originally designed to keep gutters free of ice and to keep water pipes from freezing. Although they help keep gutters clear, they don’t do much in fighting off ice dam formation. Zig-zag cables are not suitable for extremely cold climates and snowy conditions; therefore, ice dams will form above and below the melted areas surrounding the zig-zag cables.
For starters, do you know what an ice dam is? It’s a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof or along gutters on residential and commercial structures. Ice dams prevent melting snow from draining off the roof. As a result, the water that builds up behind the dam can potentially cause one or more leaks in your home – on the walls, ceilings, and in the attic space. Not to mention, the bigger ice dams get, the heavier and more dangerous they become. Until recently, the traditional method of reducing ice dams has been to install self-regulating heat cables in a zig-zag pattern along the roof eave. This method is usually ineffective, particularly in very cold climates and in areas that see heavy snow accumulation. IceFree heated roof panels offered by Engineered Roof Deicing, however, are one of the best investments homeowners, builders, and businesses can make to protect against ice damage and personal injury. Innovative new systems are now available that will completely clear snow and ice from critical areas of the roof. Call us to learn more. Traditional methods of getting rid of ice dams along your roof line include adding more insulation, ventilating your attic, installing zig-zag cables, and more. Unfortunately, too many people fall prey to these so-called “solutions” and invest a lot of their time and money, only to find that ice dams and icicles return anyway! Ice Dam Formation 101: Why the Problem Exists in the First Place Snow accumulates on your rooftop as the result of one or more winter storms. The snow begins to melt due to both solar heat from above and home heat loss from beneath. Melted snow trickles down to the surface of the roof where it settles along colder valleys, overhangs, and gutter lines. When temperatures dip below freezing again, this snow refreezes, forming dams of ice. Ice Dam Elimination – If left unchecked, ice dams and their accompanying icicles can cause all sorts of problems in varying levels of severity. Water pools accumulate behind ice dams, which may cause leaks in your home, resulting in stained sheetrock, warped hardwood floors, mold, ruined personal belongings, or other types of interior damage. Massive, heavy sheets of ice on the roof contract and expand, resulting in costly damage to the roof as well as the gutters. Icicles grow as more refreezing occurs, jeopardizing the safety of family members and neighbors. The only way to ensure the safety of your property and loved ones is to prevent and/or eliminate ice dams altogether. Climbing on the roof to shovel after a storm and climbing a ladder to knock ice dams and icicles off are not only extremely unsafe methods of ice dam control, but they also don’t fix the problem. The best answer is to find a permanent solution that will eradicate ice dam formation once and for all. Is There a Permanent, No-Fail Solution to Ice Dam Formation? The benefits of adding insulation, ventilating the attic, or installing a cold roof simply do not compensate for the effects of the sun. As long as the sun shines, you will still have problems with ice dams. Our T-Panel system is simple, energy-efficient, attractive in any season, and best of all, doesn’t just cover up your icing problems. Rather, it zeroes in on ice dams and icicles and prevents their formation before it becomes an issue.
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