Ice Dams

Last year the winter storms wreaked havoc on homes all along the east coast.  As a result we received hundreds of phone calls from homeowners who had developed iced dams on their roofs.  An ice dam forms when the gutters get clogged up with ice, then water runoff from the roof gets trapped by the dam and eventually backs up the roof, travels under the shingles, and leaks into the house.

These ice dams kept our emergency repair division busy 24-7 for weeks.  Although many ice dams are cool to look at they can cause serious damage to your home.

There is a lot you can do to prevent Ice dams.  Instead of trying to write an article from scratch, I decided to do some web surfing and I found a great resource on ice dams from a part of the country that knows ice dams better than anyone…Minnesota!   Click on the following links to learn everything you wanted to know about causes and prevention of ice dams.

  Causes of ice dams with diagram

  Causes of different roof surface temperatures, from heat sources within the house

  Preventing and dealing with ice dams in an existing home

  Warning!

  Prevention in new homes

  Mold, mildew and air quality

I hope this brief blog helps you in preventing serious damage to your home from the winter storms this season. 

And if you end up in a situation where you feel an ice dam is forming, please contact us right at 301.230.7663. 

Here is the link to the entire article.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/dk1068.html#preventing

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