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.

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. Trying to break up the ice with a hammer can damage gutters and shatter roof shingles. Rock salt melts ice but it also kills garden plants corrodes metal gutters and peels paint. When it forms the water then backs up behind the ice dam and creates a pool of water.

Ice dams on gutters result from melting snow over a heated building reaching the eave and freezing. If your gutters don t have the proper slope hire a professional to adjust them or fix them yourself. This water has the potential to leak into your home and cause damage to walls ceilings insulation and other areas. See below for a shopp.

What damage do ice dams cause. Here are five ways to remove an ice dam from your roof. If snow and ice build up high enough in the gutter it can provide a foundation for an ice dam. 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. 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. Have a professional steam your ice dams away. For every 10 feet 3 0 m the gutters should slope downward 1 2 inch 1 3 cm.

These ice dam busing techniques are safer for your roof but always be very careful while you work. This equates to a larger thicker ice dam than you would have had without gutters. Ice may build up in your gutters if they don t slope down correctly toward the downspout. This pool of water can leak into your home and cause damage to walls ceilings insulation and other areas.

Ensure your gutters slope downward. Ask this old house general contractor tom silva explains the best ways to keep your roof and gutters free from those dreaded ice dams. An ice dam is a wall of ice that forms at the edge of the roof usually at the gutters or soffit. If people try to tell you otherwise either politely correct them or slam the door.

Though ice dams can look picturesque with dangling icicles it s actually hard on your home. Gutters do not cause ice dams. How to remove ice dams.