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Omaha Home Inspections: It's Ice-Damming Season

By
Home Inspector with Foundation-2-Rooftop, Inc.

Last week, we had 6"-9" of snowfall combined with blowing winds.  Some house roofs had 2'-3' of snow on them.  A few days later we had 41 degree day melting the snow too fast, then at night it froze again.  Since, we've had more snowfall with more warm days and cold nights.  Every time the snow melts too fast, the water becomes blocked by the heavy snow/ice that's formed on the roof.  When it pools, it sneaks it's way up under the shingles.  If that area doesn't have an ice-dam membrane, it can end up leaking through your roof.

If this describes your house, your best line of defense is to take a roof rake (a long pole with a wide plastic scraper on the end) and remove as much snow as you can safely reach in the built up areas before it melts and turns into ice.  Don't try breaking the ice with anything hard tipped or sharp as you'll most likely damage the shingles.

For more home inspection tips, go to: www.omaha-home-inspection.com.

Photo of minor ice-damming

Comments (2)

David Popoff
DMK Real Estate - Darien, CT
Realtor®,SRS, Green ~ Fairfield County, Ct

Ouch, we are having this same problem here in Ct. with all the snow this year. Almost every house has ice-dams.

Jan 26, 2011 12:13 AM
Greg Wayman
Foundation-2-Rooftop, Inc. - Omaha, NE
ASHI Certified Inspector - 402-330-1701

David,

Protect your listings and your Sellers by encouraging to have them scrape the built up snow off before it leads to problems.  Remind them to use a roof rake.  I've seen too many holes & scrapes across shingles from homeowners using sharp shovels or ice picks. 

Greg

Feb 02, 2011 10:29 AM