What Are Ice Dams & How Do I Prevent Them?

With winter just around the corner in Massachusett’s, the snow will begin falling soon which brings its own set of challenges for homeowners. From having to shovel out your car or front steps, to making sure that your home is properly sealed, there’s a laundry list of projects that homeowners need to tackle before the winter begins. One of the most common issues that homeowners run into during the winter months are ice dams. If you’re interested in learning more about what ice dams are and how you can prevent damage from occurring to your home, keep reading below!

What Are Ice Dams?

Many homeowners are unaware of what ice dams are and how they form. Ice Dams are created from snow accumulating on your home’s roof. As the heat from your home escapes out the top of your home, it causes the snow on your roof to melt. As the water from that snow runs down your home’s roof, it eventually reaches the eaves of your roof which hang past the edge of your home, as well as your gutter system. When the water reaches the edges of your roof, it is no longer being heated by your home, which causes the water to refreeze. Over time, the ice builds up, and if there are enough cycles of water melting and refreezing at the edges of your roof, you will have an ice dam large enough that it reaches back up onto your roof and causes the water that is melting to stay high enough up the roof to remain liquid. If the liquid water sits on your roof all winter, it will eventually begin to seep into your roof deck where it will cause significant moisture damage. Therefore, it is important to try to prevent ice dams before they form!

How To Prevent Ice Dams

The best way to prevent ice dams on your roof is to keep your roof cold enough to prevent the water from freezing in the first place. The first thing you should do is examine your attics insulation. If you insulate your attic well, it should remain cold enough to prevent the snow on your roof from melting in the first place, which is what eventually leads to ice dams.

Another easy way to reduce the temperature in your attic is to add more roof and soffit vents. These vents will allow warm air to exit your roof and cool air to enter, keeping the temperature of your attic low enough to prevent the snow on your roof from melting in the first place.

Contact Us Today

If you need to remove ice dams from your home’s roof this winter, our team at Burke Roofs is ready to assist! Reach out to our team today by calling us at (781) 246-5622 or by filling out our team’s online contact form! We look forward to hearing from you and assisting with your roofing needs!