You may not have heard of an ice dam before, but if you live in a part of the country that sees a lot of snow and freezing every winter then you've certainly seen them. Ice dams are very beautiful and very dangerous build-ups of snow and ice which tend to occur around the edges of home roofs. These ice dams tend to develop as a result of heat escaping through the center of your roof, resulting in melted snow pooling along your roof surface since the gutter system and roof edge are still frozen solid. As a result of this pooling, water damage often occurs in homes with ice dams however, if the pressure of the water is too great this damage can extend to conditions like gutter or roof collapse! Fortunately, there are some fairly simple ways for homeowners to deal with ice dams which may have already developed! Just follow these simple guides and you’ll be able to save yourself a huge amount of money, stress, and damage!

Heating Cables

In order to allow any water build-up on your roof a route of flowing you may want to try your hand at installing specialized heating cables along the edges of the roof in especially problematic areas. Heating cable installation is a fairly simple process which homeowners can complete using only the manufacturers instructions, a cleared roofing surface, and an exterior outlet for the cables to connect to. These cables are designed to create a path through which water can flow into your gutters instead of building up behind a layer of ice and have helped many homeowners across the country. That said, heating cables are not a permanent solution to your ice dam issue since heat is still escaping through your attic and your gutters need to be properly cleaned for the water flow to have a suitable place to go. For a surefire way to be free of ice dams be sure to contact professional roofing contractors about having your gutters cleaned, your attic better insulated, and your ice dam barrier installed.

Ice Melt Delivery

As with heating cables, the idea behind applying ice melt to your roof is to open up channels for melting snow to flow through and so this technique also demands clean gutters in order to properly provide support to your home. However, this technique stands out as one of the quickest ways to respond to ice dams and so is used by many homeowners in cold climates each year. Essentially by filling a semi-ventilated material like an old pair of pantyhose with de-icing chemicals like calcium chloride you can effectively create a temporary pathway for water to flow without being stopped up by ice dams. This is an excellent DIY solution to ice dam developments but, as with heating cables does not provide the permanent solution which professional roofing contractors offer. Still, for a quick, incredibly affordable solution to ice dams, this technique can be very helpful.