Removing Ice From Your Roof

Ask this old house general contractor tom silva explains the best ways to keep your roof and gutters free from those dreaded ice dams.

Removing ice from your roof.

Run the heating elements back and forth in a zigzag above the gutters. The calcium chloride will eventually melt through the snow and ice and create a channel for water to flow down into the gutters or off the roof. Eliminate its fuel source if left alone the ice dam will continue to be built up by the snow and ice up on your roof. So the first step is to remove this ice and snow using a snow rake which is a retractable rake that can extend up to about 17 feet or so in length.

An ice dam can damage both your roof and the inside of your home. This blast of cold air will usually be enough to refreeze the fingers of the ice dam while the snow and ice is melting away on the outside of your home. Clip a snow melting system to your roof to resist ice formation. If necessary use a long handled garden rake or hoe to push it into position.

See below for a shopp. Snow melting systems take the form of heated wires that clip to shingles and the edge of your roof. It will put gutters and downspouts at risk too. Lay the hose onto the roof so it crosses the ice dam and overhangs the gutter.

There are several things you can do to avoid getting an ice dam or to reduce the risk of damage after one has formed but. If your home is beginning to suffer the leaks indicative of an ice dam take a fan a box fan or small air mover into your attic and direct it at the section of roof suffering the leak.