What Do You Do When a Gutter Freezes?

Frozen gutters can damage the inside of your home.

Frozen gutters happen when the home’s interior heat melts snow and ice on the roof. The resulting water flows into the cold gutter system and begins freezing. A gutter becomes completely clogged with ice, causing water to back up and sometimes leak into the home. It’s called an ice dam. Solutions that are more permanent are costly and require professional installation, but should be considered if you experience ice dams as an ongoing problem. Keeping gutters running clear is a quick fix, and suitable where ice dams happen infrequently.

Things You'll Need

• Nylon stockings
• Scissors
• Calcium chloride, pellet or flake form

Instructions

1. Cut the legs off a pair of nylon stockings.

2. Fill each leg from the top with calcium chloride. This is also sometimes known as sidewalk salt and is used for melting ice on outdoor walkways.

3. Knot the top of each leg so the salt does not spill out.

4. Position the filled stockings directly on top of the ice in the frozen gutters. Leave them there until the ice melts.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure the salt contacts ice covering downspout openings as well, so that the melting ice has a place to flow.

• Reduce the effects of ice dam by positioning electric fans in your attic in such a way that they pull cold air from outside into the attic. This lowers the attic temperature, and slows the melting of snow and ice on the exterior roof.

• Do not use rock salt, as it leaves stains on your home’s roof and siding.

• Do not use stockings with large holes or runs, as this lets the salt spill out, creating a mess.

References

• Reader's Digest: Cold-Proof Your Home in Five Easy Steps
• The Home Improvement Web: Removing Ice Dams and Roof Ice Build-Up