Winter weather, such as snow and ice storms, can cause serious damage to your roof. When snow piles up on your roof and melts, this can cause ice dams to form. These icy blockages can lead to roof leaks and other damage to your roof and home interior. Knowing more about how ice dams affect roofing in Barrie can help you understand why it’s important to prevent them from occurring.
What Are Ice Dams?
Ice dams are blockages that form at the edges of your roof. This can happen when you have warmer temperatures in your attic that cause snow to melt on your roof. This melted snow then drips toward roof edges where temperatures are below freezing, causing ice dams to form. Your attic can end up with above freezing temperatures if it doesn’t have enough insulation. This allows heat from the lower part of your home to rise through your ceiling to your attic.
Ice Dam Hazards
Ice dams can cause serious problems in your home. These blockages can damage your gutters, preventing them from allowing melted snow to flow through them to downspouts. Ice dams can also cause roof shingles to become loose. Having loose shingles can put your home at risk of water damage if melted snow seeps in. When you have ice dams, melted snow isn’t able to flow through your gutters and away from your home. Instead, it seeps under shingles and into your attic and home interior. This can lead to mold growth, wood rot and other kinds of moisture damage.
What to Do About Ice Dams
If you have ice dams, removing snow from your roof with a roof rake can help reduce the damage that occurs. Putting a box fan in your attic and having it blow toward your roof can help stop water from dripping inside if you have a leak. What you should not do is try to break up ice dams with a shovel on your own, since this can damage your roof. Keep in mind that you should always have professional roofers fix roof leaks and other damage that ice dams cause. Roofers can also help you lower the risk of having ice dams develop on your roof again.
Ice Dam Prevention
Adding insulation to your attic is an effective way to stop ice dams from occurring. When your attic has enough insulation, this stops warmer air from causing snow to melt on your roof and freeze at the edges. Adding ventilation to the ridge and eaves of your roof can also help prevent ice dams from forming. Other ways to prevent these blockages include sealing and insulating your ductwork, repairing damaged flashing around your chimney and covering your attic hatch. Making sure exhaust vents are installed in walls or roof rather than in a soffit can also lower your risk of having ice dams.
Contact Us for Reliable Roofing in Barrie
If you have ice dams or need other roof repairs this winter, please contact Ainger Group Roofing and Exteriors. Our roofers can remove ice dams and reduce your risk of having them occur again.
