Credit: Dmcroof via Wikimedia Commons
Living in an area that has harsh winters requires regular home maintenance to ensure you will not have problems during the snowy winter months when everything is much more difficult to repair.
One of the most common problems in areas with temperatures consistently below freezing is the buildup of snow and ice on the edge of roof lines referred to as ice dams. Preparing for ice dams is just one of the items you should be concerned with when winterizing your home.
What is an Ice Dam?
An ice dam is a buildup of melting snow that refreezes at the bottom of the roof eaves preventing the melting snow and ice from draining properly into your gutters causing a lake under the snow on your roof. As you can imagine, this can lead to a whole host of issues not the least of which is water leaking through your shingles and causing damage in your attic or any rooms near the roof line.
So what causes this buildup of snow and ice in the first place?
More often than not, ice damming is caused by the difference in temperature in a very warm attic and very cold eaves. The heat from the attic rises and melts the snow on the upper part of the roof line which flows down to the bottom toward your gutters, but then refreezes as it reaches the colder areas above your eaves. Eaves are the portion of the roof line that hangs out over the house, therefore it is exposed to the cold.
The buildup feeds upon itself getting bigger and bigger. Soon the ice dam itself is enough to refreeze the water that approaches. The ice will form above and hang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq1by3meAC4
