Breaking Up An Ice Dam On The Gutters

The person breaking the ice dam should do so from the vantage point of being on the roof not from the ground where the heavy sheets of ice will fall.

Breaking up an ice dam on the gutters.

Have a professional steam your ice dams away. These ice dam busing techniques are safer for your roof but always be very careful while you work. An ice dam is a wall of ice that forms at the edge of the roof usually at the gutters or soffit with water pooling behind it. But regardless you would have had ice dams anyway so don t go tearing the gutters off your house in an effort to prevent ice dams this winter.

See below for a shopp. If snow and ice build up high enough in the gutter it can provide a foundation for an ice dam. An ice dam is a wall of ice that forms at the edge of the roof usually at the gutters or soffit. When it forms the water then backs up behind the ice dam and creates a pool of water.

The flatter the pitch of the roof the easier it is for an ice dam to get a grip. An ice dam is defined as a build up of ice that gathers on the eaves of sloped roofs. Gutters at the eaves can also trap snow and ice. Ice may build up in your gutters if they don t slope down correctly toward the downspout.

This equates to a larger thicker ice dam than you would have had without gutters. This pool of water can leak into your home and cause damage to walls ceilings insulation and other areas. Trying to break up the ice with a hammer can damage gutters and shatter roof shingles. How to remove ice dams.

Though ice dams can look picturesque with dangling icicles it s actually hard on your home. Rock salt melts ice but it also kills garden plants corrodes metal gutters and peels paint. Ice dams on gutters result from melting snow over a heated building reaching the eave and freezing. So the first step is to remove this ice and snow using a snow rake which is a retractable rake that can extend up to about 17 feet or so in length.

What damage do ice dams cause. Ensure your gutters slope downward. Eliminate its fuel source if left alone the ice dam will continue to be built up by the snow and ice up on your roof. For every 10 feet 3 0 m the gutters should slope downward 1 2 inch 1 3 cm.

Gutters do not cause ice dams. This water has the potential to leak into your home and cause damage to walls ceilings insulation and other areas. If your gutters don t have the proper slope hire a professional to adjust them or fix them yourself.