Ice Damming Damage to Your Home

Ice Damming Damage to Your Home

Now is the time of year when we have huge snows in New England, and end up having icicles hanging from our roofs and gutters. If they come through from behind the facia boards, then you know you have the beginnings of ice damming.

What happens is the snow melts a little during the day, the water freezes at the edge of the roof where it is coldest. This goes on for several days, and the build up has begun. Since the ice is forming a DAM. the water then has no choice but to go up under the roof shingles and into the house.

That water will follow rafters and find its way everywhere following gravity. Usually it will appear in window sills. Sometimes it will appear in the middle of your dining room ceiling!

The only ways to solve this is to shovel the snow off your roof, or to hire an electrician to place heat tapes along your roof edge. We had our snow shoveled off of the roof today.