Everything needs safety and prevention from damage. Likewise, you also need something to prevent the ice dams that form on your roof during snowy winters. Snowy winters are a season of heavy snowfall. So, it can make damaging ice dams on your roofs.
Basically, an ice dam is an ice build-up on the eaves of sloped roofs of heated buildings that results from melting of the snow under a snowpack reaching the eave and freezing there. Also, it is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and thus prevents melted snow from draining off the roof.
However, prevention is important for this. Thus, there are many ways to prevent the damage of the ice dams. So, forget all your worries, because we will help you with this matter, just as experts do. Thus, scroll down to get to know more.
Table of Contents
Keeping Gutters Clean
Gutters are the main part of the house that controls the flow of dirty and clean water. However, you should keep your gutters clean because clean gutters offer a path for melted snow to move away from your roof and home. Rather than allowing it to back up and refreeze.
Thus, do keep your gutters clean. Also, a quite simple way to prevent ice dams from forming on your roof in the winters is to keep your gutters clear of debris, like twigs and leaves. In simple terms, you just must avoid solid things that can cause gutter blockage and prevent proper flow.
Although, gutters do not cause ice dams directly. Even so, gutters do help in concentrating ice and water in a very vulnerable area, at the edge of the roof. Thus, as the gutters fill with the ice, they simply bend and rip away from the house. Therefore, bringing fascia, fasteners, and downspouts in tow.
Invest In A Snow Rake
There are many ways to prevent the ice dams on your roof during the snowy winter. Besides, these ice dams can severely damage your roof. So, it is important to get rid of them.
Thus, here you will get to know how investing in snow rakes helps in preventing ice dams. Investing in a snow rake is an excellent idea to protect your roof. Since it helps to prevent the accumulation of ice dams on your roof much like a leaf rake.
Basically, snow rakes have flat heads with a long handle. They permit you to remove snow from your residential roofs while allowing you to stay on the ground. Thus, the use of a long-handled roof rake for removing the snow from at least at lower 4 feet of roof edge can help prevent ice dams from forming.
However, never take a risk of removing snow from the roof in the winter by getting onto the roof yourself. Your life is more important than clearing out the roof.
Ventilate Your Attic
There is not only one way or tip to prevent ice dams. There are many different tips for it. However, ventilating your attic is the method that most people use. So, for the best results, you must place roof ventilation near the roof’s peak and soffit vents in the eaves.
Moreover, the air flows in through the soffit vents and out through the roof vents. Interestingly, these vents come in various styles. Therefore, some people choose rectangular roofing vents and rectangular soffit vents because they are easy to install.
If you have not vented the attic properly, excess heat and condensation can cause major damage to your roof and roofing materials. Because the hot air is full of moisture all that water hanging out in your attic can cause condensation to build up.
Must Consult A Professional
Yes! Prevention is good but it is better that you should consult a professional for this as well. These professionals will guide you on how to save roofs from ice dams in the snowy winters. Thus, consulting a professional is the best idea for it.
Moreover, these professionals will inspect your roof to ensure that it is able to handle the tough winter months. In fact, they remove any snow or ice dams that may have already accumulated. Furthermore, the great thing is that best roofing companies can help you with this problem themselves. This means you do not have to look for anyone separately.
The Only Way To Get Rid of Ice Dams
There are many ways to prevent ice dams but here is one of the only ways to get rid of the dam easily. The upcoming steps are the only ones you can apply when nothing else is working for you. Thus, without further ado, the steps are:
- Make sure to seal all the points where warm air leaks from the living space into the spaces immediately below the roof sheathing.
- Also, you can insulate the living space well enough that it prevents conduction and convection of heat through the ceiling.
Thus, these were the few measures you can take to save your roof. However, people still consider the use of hot water and the installation of heat cables as the best way to prevent ice dams.
Conclusion
Roofs are an important part of your house. So, its maintenance and care should be your top priority. It acts as the protective shield of your house. However, sometimes snowy winters are a reason for damage to the roofs with the accumulation of ice dams. Since they can weaken the roof surface during heavy snowfall.
Even so, you can correct this problem in the simple and easy steps we mentioned above. Hence, heat cables work perfectly for melting the ice from the roofs in winter.
Ventilation is just another way to prevent ice dams. Also, you can even take help from professionals. They will surely guide you well. Thus, there is no need to worry about it. Because these steps will surely help you in your tough time of snowy winters.
This is a guest post contribution from John Adam