Have you looked at your roof recently? You should. I know, it’s buried under snow, right? But you need to look for and be aware of the potential danger of “ice dams.” This is a problem that is caused by heat loss through parts of your roof and can cause minor or even major damage.
The biggest tell-tale sign of an ice dam is uneven melting of snow on your roof. Let’s say the entire south side of your roof has equal exposure to the sun’s rays, the temperature outside is in the lower 20’s, your neighbor’s all have snow evenly covering their roofs, yet yours has a patch a few feet wide where the shingles are peeking out through 3 inches of snow. You have heat escaping through your roof. It could be due to a variety of causes, so you should have your attic and roof inspected to find the culprit. In the meantime you can immediately check the door or hatch to your attic; it should be shut firmly to keep household heat from getting through it.
Now another sign of ice dams is huge icicles. You know, the kind that make people ooh and aah, the ones that those dangling Christmas lights try to replicate. Yep…those gorgeous natural ice structures are a sign of potential roof damage. If you look just above them you may be able to see a ridge of ice on your roof. That’s your ice dam.
What harm can they cause? Well, when the snow melts above the dam it flows down to it and either refreezes and makes the dam bigger or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, then it’s gotta go somewhere and that somewhere is very likely inside your attic and down the inside of an exterior wall or dripping through your ceiling onto your brand new sofa or grandma’s antique piano. Not such a pretty picture when that happens.
So what can you do? Karen Youso with the Star Tribune suggests hiring a contractor to remove the ice dams. It can cost a couple hundred dollars, but the cost of a new roof and interior repairs from a leak would be a great deal more.
"Many roofing contractors do ice-dam removal. You can check yellow-page directories or online for "snow and ice removal," "roofing contractors" or "ice removal." Or just call a roofer with whom you have experience.
Be sure to ask:
• How they remove the ice dam; steam is the preferred method.
• If they're insured and how much experience they have.
• If they offer a guarantee.
• How much they estimate it will cost.
In most cases, contractors will need a place to plug in their equipment. They might ask that the homeowner be home while they do the work."
For more information on ice dams and how to prevent them, visit the University of Minnesota Extension website.
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