ST. PAUL Blog

How to Prevent & Remove Ice Dams This Winter

When the snow on your roof melts due to the warm air inside your home, it often refreezes before making it to the ground. This means that heavy icicles dangle from your roof and gutters, known as an ice dam. 

While ice dams may look pretty to some, they can cause some serious damage to your roof. This could include loose shingles, dislodged gutters, paint damage, roof leaks, and other problems. 

To ensure that you aren’t subjected to expensive home repairs, you will want to work to prevent ice dams from building up or at least remove them as soon as possible if they do occur.

How to Prevent Ice Dams This Winter 

Remove Fresh Snowfall from the Roof

To prevent ice dams, you need to make sure there’s not an excessive amount of moisture (AKA snow) on your roof. Head outside after fresh snowfall and use a lightweight, extendable roof rake to brush off all the snow you can reach from the ground. With less snow to melt, there will be less moisture to melt and refreeze. 

Keep Your Gutters Clear

Although it is not a fun job, you should make sure to keep your gutters and eaves clear of debris, such as leaves and twigs. This will enable water to properly drain away instead of pooling on the roof or in the gutters. While this is a job you can do yourself, it’s much safer (and a lot less time-consuming!) to hire a professional company to do it for you. 

Improve Your Attic Insulation

The melting and freezing cycle is caused by the temperature difference between the interior of your home and the cold outside air. To prevent the warm temperatures of your home from escaping through the roof, you should invest in blown-in attic insulation. This will help to keep your home warm in the winter (without melting the snow on the roof) and cool in the summer, with the added bonus of reduced energy bills.

Get Airflow Leaks Sealed

You may also find that warm air is escaping your attic due to gaps left by workmen or from past damage. Getting your airflow leaks sealed will prevent this unwanted airflow, as well as moisture build-up, which could otherwise lead to ice build-up on the exterior of your home.

Our expert technicians will identify any gaps in your attic and seal them to increase your home’s energy efficiency. Click here to find out more.

Install Attic Ventilation

Having attic vents installed will make sure that there is constant airflow to prevent heat build-up in the attic and therefore prevent the melting of snow and ice. Consider our Solar Attic Fans which will provide your attic with the ventilation it needs and they will cost you nothing to run as they take all their energy from the sun.

Install a De-icing Cable System

De-icing cables can be purchased from any good home improvement store and can be installed either on the roof shingles or clipped onto the eaves of your home. These heated cables will help to prevent ice dams, just be careful not to accidentally remove them when you are raking snow from your roof.

How to Remove Ice Dams 

Use Calcium Chloride

Calcium chloride is the chemical that is used to melt ice on driveways and sidewalks, but it can also be used to melt ice dams as it is safe for use on shingles and will not damage any vegetation growing near your home.

However, you should not simply put calcium chloride granules directly onto the ice dam. Instead, you should pour the granules into tube socks or pantyhose and tie closed the open ends. Then, position them evenly spaced over the ice dam (vertically) allowing the end to hang off the roof edge – about one or two inches.

The calcium chloride will cause the ice to melt, at the same time forming channels that will allow water to run straight off the roof rather than simply creating longer icicles.

(Note: do NOT use rock salt instead as it could damage your shingles and will kill vegetation anywhere that water then touches.)

Install Insulation to Prevent Ice Dams in St Paul 

If you want to prevent ice dams this winter and improve the energy efficiency of your home, contact Koala Insulation of St Paul. Our experts will assess your attic to determine which insulation is right for your home. To learn more or to book, click here.