Common Types of Damage from Ice Damming

Ice damming can cause a great deal of damage to homes and businesses. With winter coming on strong, now is the best time you may have to take a look at the types of damage ice damming causes and what you can do to prevent it.

Types of Damage

The damage caused by damming ice is not only destructive to your home, it can also be quite costly to repair. These are just a few of the problems that might occur and need to be repaired after one ice damming event.

  • Sheetrock/Drywall Damage
    • Ruined Insulation
  • Mold and Mildew
  • Gutter Damage
  • Falling Ice
  • Property Damage
  • Soffit Damage
  • Flooring Damage
  • Landscaping Damage
  • Roof Damage

The key to avoiding these costly repairs and expenses, of course, is to avoid ice dams on your home in the first place.

Reducing Risks of Ice Dams

We all know that prevention is the best cure. The good news is that the actions you take to reduce the ice dams from occurring, also serve to keep your heating costs down all winter.

Install Adequate Attic Insulation – This prevents heat from escaping your home into the attic. Keeps the family nice and warm and you’re no longer paying to heat the attic space no one uses.

Properly Ventilate Your Attic Space – This gives the warm air that does manage to escape into the attic an avenue for escape other than the roof. If you have an older home, you may only have gable vents. Consider adding when installing a newer roof, consider adding soffit vents to draw air in and a ridge vent to allow it to escape in order to facilitate even melting and prevent ice dams along eaves and overhangs.

Use an Attic Fan – It’s all about equalizing indoor and outdoor temperatures. Attic fans accomplish this by releasing the warm moist air that’s inside the attic and drawing in cooler drier air from outside. This prevents condensation in the attic and keeps it properly ventilated while maintaining even temperatures.

Why this combination? The final goal is to keep the attic space below freezing. While it sounds counterintuitive, ice rises and escapes through the roof above the attic, which in turn melts the snow. It’s the melting and refreezing process that causes ice dams to form and damages your roof and, potentially, everything below it.

Keep your cool and save a pretty penny this winter by preventing ice dams from damaging your home. Take action now to prevent ice dams this winter and to preserve the integrity of your roof.

These small steps can save you big on energy bills as well as repair costs in the aftermath of a particularly brutal winter.