how to prevent ice dams: Thinking of adding more insulation to your attic? Read this first. - 02/14/11 09:52 PM
If you're tired of dealing with ice dams and you've decided to finally get your attic re-insulated, please read this first.  You might save yourself a lot of time and money.
Over the past two months, a large portion of my business has been ice dam inspections in Minnesota.   For most of these inspections, I was hired to determine the cause of the ice dams and to recommend a solution.
I feel extremely fortunate to have spent the past two months doing this.  During this time, I've dug through a ridiculous amount of insulation in attics.   I've come home with itching arms, … (21 comments)

how to prevent ice dams: Preventing Ice Dams From The Exterior - 01/03/11 10:11 PM
 
I've been doing a lot of attic inspections for Minneapolis homeowners with water leaking in to their houses, and in almost every case I find obvious problems in the attic that should be addressed to either prevent or significantly reduce ice dams.  I mentioned most of the stuff that I look for in last week's blog about preventing ice dams.
Occasionally I'll come across a house with no attic space in the areas where heat loss is occurring, or there isn't access to the attic areas.  In these cases, it probably isn't cost effective to fix the problems that are causing … (16 comments)

how to prevent ice dams: How To Prevent Ice Dams - 12/27/10 11:32 PM
We've received over 34" of snow in Minnesota in the last 25 days, which makes this the snowiest December on record.  While the snow turns our state in to a beautiful white winter wonderland, it also causes nasty ice dams that wreak havoc on homes like never before.

The heavy amount of snowfall and temperatures in the teens have been the perfect conditions to create ice dams.  Water leakage from ice dams is an epidemic in Minnesota right now.  I have friends, neighbors, and family members with water leaking in to their homes.  It's everywhere.  I've taken all of the photos below … (26 comments)