Ways to Prepare Your Roof for Preventing Ice Dams

One of the most unknown, yet highly destructive, risks that your roof may face this winter is the build-up of ice dams. Unfortunately, not many homeowners are aware exactly what an ice dam is, occasionally leading to a lack of preparedness and long term damage to your roof. When the snow that often comes in the winter months starts to accumulate and combine with ice, the result is an ice dam. Fortunately, with a little prep work, you can prevent ice dams and preserve the health of your roof throughout the winter. Read on to find out how ice dams form, what kind of damage they can cause and how you can prevent them to protect your roof when the temperature drops.

Ways to Prepare for Ice Dams

There are a few tips and tricks that can prepare your home for ice dams. However, the better option is to prevent them from developing in the first place. Proper ventilation and insulation can go a long way to preventing ice dam build-up, although they may not always completely stop an ice dam from forming.

Simple freezing and thawing that tends to happen with the snow is one of the main drivers of ice dams. However, if you make sure that your roof’s temperature doesn’t dip too low, you can stop ice dams in their tracks.

If more insulation is added to the attic, the heat in your home won’t escape and it will stay where it is intended to and won’t cause a high rate of melting through the roof.

Ice Dam Removal

If you were a little late receiving the memo on the problems ice dams can cause, it’s not too late.

Although ice dams occur more frequently in older homes and less in the new ones, thanks to new building patterns and architecture, it can still happen. Fortunately, there is specialized tool called a roof rake that you can use to clear snow and ice from your roof. When you use a roof rake, you must make sure to completely clear your roof of snow and ice, as any leftovers can lead to ice dams.

Check your house

Sometimes the problem can be fixed without having to go to the roof. The insulation in your house makes a large difference on how the roof reacts to the heat inside. Hydronic Heating can be a solution to the insulation problem in the house since it heats the home more directly. Caulking and sealing areas that could release heat in the attic or other entry points in the home could help as well.

As the colder months of the winter approaches, there are a lot of things that you need to do to make sure that the roof of your home survives the harsh whether. Out of all the pitfalls that come with winter weather, the one that you need to look our for the most is ice dams. Preventing the build-up of ice dams will ensure that your roof makes it through the winter unscathed and that you aren’t faced with any unforeseen, expensive repair costs.