Ice Damm Roof

Ice dams and icicles form when the snow melts runs down your roof and refreezes near the edge.

Ice damm roof.

Attached with clips along the roof s edge in a zigzag pattern heated cables help prevent ice dams that lift shingles and cause leaks. Ice dams are those beautiful but deadly mounds of ice and icicles that you see along the edge of some roofs. Once this thick ice forms it prevents melting snow from running off the roof. We say they are deadly because sheets of ice start to break loose as the weather gets a little warmer stabbing or crushing anything in its path.

How to prevent ice dams use heated cables. An ice dam is a solid ridge of ice that forms along the edges of your roof. Snow starts to melt in certain areas of the roof which are warmer than others due to heat loss from the attic. Freezing at the eave impedes the drainage of meltwater which adds to the ice dam and causes backup of the meltwater which may cause water leakage into the roof and consequent damage to the building and its contents if the water leaks through the roof.

This scenario is often the result of a warm attic. To take a more pro active approach in preventing ice dams you can install ice belt metal panels which are installed along the eaves to block water. Now that you know how ice dams form here s a quick and easy way to prevent them. They can also cause considerable roof leaks that lead to interior damage.

This only occurs when part of your roof warms to above 32 degrees f warm enough to melt the snow while the roof edge remains below freezing. An ice dam is an ice build up on the eaves of sloped roofs of heated buildings that results from melting snow under a snow pack reaching the eave and freezing there. Finally ice accumulates along the eaves forming a dam. Ice dams form when the snow melts on an upper warmer part of a roof.

An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow water from draining off the roof. The meltwater then runs down toward the colder eave overhang where it freezes. As the ice accumulates it forms a blockage that prevents the snowmelt from flowing off the roof.