With winter just around the corner in New England, many homeowners will soon be dealing with various winter maintenance concerns. One of the most damaging issues that homeowners deal with during the winter are ice dams, which when left unchecked, can grow and lead to significant water damage! If you’re tired of dealing with ice dams every winter and you’re interested in learning how to prevent them from occurring, keep reading below for more information!
How Ice Dams Form
Before we begin addressing how to prevent them, let’s first discuss how & why ice dams form. Over the course of the winter, many New England homeowners may notice that their gutters begin to fill with ice and overflow, potentially creating large icicles. This build-up of ice in your gutter system is known as an ice dam.
Now let’s discuss how these ice dams form. An ice dam is created when heat escapes out of your home into your attic, and heats up the your shingle system, causing the snow to melt. As this snowmelt runs down your roof, it will eventually reach your gutter system. At this point, since it is no longer being heated by the warmth escaping from your attic, the water will refreeze in your gutter system. This process will repeat itself over the course of the winter, eventually leading to large amounts of ice building up in your gutters, which can be damaging and dangerous! If you’re interested in learning how you can prevent these ice dams from occurring in the first place, keep reading below!
How To Prevent Ice Dams
Now that we know what causes ice dams, let’s discuss what you can do to prevent them! The best way to prevent ice dams is to stop the snow on your roof from melting! In order to prevent this, you need to ensure that your attic remains the same temperature as your shingles. This can be achieved through a combination of insulation & ventilation.
First, you should make sure your attic is properly insulated, as this is just as beneficial for your wallet as it is for preventing ice dams. If you don’t have insulation between your top story & attic, adding it will help improve your home’s energy efficiency, as well as regulate the temperature of your attic, which is what you need to accomplish to prevent the snow from melting.
Now while installing insulation is sure to reduce the severity of your ice dams, it may not be enough to prevent them completely, which is why the next piece of the puzzle is ventilation! The goal here is to help keep your attics temperature consistent with the outdoors, which will prevent the snow from melting off of your roof! If you don’t have any ventilation installed in your attic, this can often fix the issue on it’s own, as it can eliminate the temperature discrepancy that is causing the snow to the melt!
Contact Us Today
RIHI is happy to assist with all of your roofing needs! If you’re interested in replacing your home’s roof this fall or winter, our team at RIHI is ready to help! Reach out to our team today by calling us at (866) 563-7293 or by filling out our team’s online contact form! We look forward to assisting with your roof replacement & installation needs!
