How Do I Melt An Ice Dam On My Roof

Have a professional steam your ice dams away.

How do i melt an ice dam on my roof.

If snow and ice accumulate on your roof heating cables are an easy and effective to solution to eliminate melt the ice dams before they cause major damage. Here are five ways to remove an ice dam from your roof. 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. Never use rock salt for this as it will do more damage to your roof than it will to the ice.

An ice dam can form when certain parts of the roof get warm enough to melt the snow on the roof while the roof edges remain much colder and as a result prevent the melted snow from flowing down the roof. Next up a list of long term fixes that will. 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. An ice dam forms when the roof over the attic gets warm enough to melt the underside of the layer of snow on the roof.

Over time the calcium chloride will clear a channel in the ice dam allowing the water on your roof to escape. The water trickles down between the layer of snow and the shingles until it reaches the eave of the roof which stays cold because it extends beyond the side of the house. Stop ice dams with a cold roof. The calcium chloride will eventually melt through the snow and ice and create a channel for water to flow down into the gutters or off the roof.

Use this calculator to estimate the cost and length of heat cables for your home based on your roof length and overhang width. Ice dams can be frustrating. If necessary use a long handled garden rake or hoe to push it into position. Lay the hose onto the roof so it crosses the ice dam and overhangs the gutter.

To help prevent this fill up a pair of pantyhose with the salt you d use to get rid of ice on your sidewalk and tie off the ends. This only occurs when part of your roof warms to above 32 degrees f warm enough to melt the snow while the roof edge remains below 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. An ice dam forms when the roof over the attic gets warm enough to melt the bottom layer of snow.

If necessary use a long handled rake or other tool to help get it in position. When your roof heats up and melts the bottom layer of snow or ice the water leaks down to the edge of your roof and freezes again creating an ice dam.