How to do Ice Dam Removal
Due to inadequate attic ventilation you can get ice buildup on the edges of your roof. While ice cycles can look pretty on your home, they can damage your home and injure people when they fall. If you are battling ice dams or icicles on your home, here are some tips to help you with ice dam removal and preventative measures to keep then from reforming. Also be aware that water backup from ice dams can saturate your roof sheathing, structure and in the worst cases run down the cavity spaces of your exterior walls. This can lead to problems with termites, carpenter ants, dry rot and the worst of all toxic black mold formation. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Start by getting all excess snow off of your roof. You don't have to clean all the way down to your shingles, but clean as much show off as possible. This will make the rest of your ice dam removal much simpler and will help prevent them from occurring again.
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Next, sprinkle your urea fertilizer on the ice dams. The higher the nitrogen content in the fertilizer, the better. Do NOT use rock salt as this can also kill your plants and grass. The fertilizer will help you remove the ice dams and is also beneficial to your plants and grass. Wait for the fertilizer to do it's work on the ice dam. If it does not completely fall off, repeat the process again.
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Once you have clean edges, take your heat tape and apply in to your roof in a zig zag method so that it looks like triangles on your roof. At the point where the heat tape reaches the roof's edges, it should extend over the edge of the room about 2 or 3". Special note here: If you have adequate ventilation the heat tape is not necessary. If you ventilate with adequate soffit ventilation and ridge and or gable vents, there will be no ice formation or any icicle problem.
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If your home has gutters, run a heat tape in the gutter and down your downspouts. Also tie the roof heat tape into the gutter heat tape, so water has a dedicated channel for water to run down.
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Tips & Warnings
Consider buying a heat tape with a thermostatic control that turns on only during freezing weather.
To prevent the formation of ice dams refer to my article below: How to Prevent Ice Dam From Forming
Ice dams can pose serious consequences to the structural integrity of your home. Ice dams backup water into your roof structure, roof sheathing and run down the cavity of stud walls. This will lead to pest problems, dry rot and toxic black mold.
Try to solve the problem of why the ice is forming in the first place, usually due to inadequate attic ventilation and or insulation or already placed insulation is blocking the free flow of air through the attic space. Follow the 1/300 rule. 1 square foot of ventilation in the soffit and one square foot of ventilation for ridge and gable ventilation for each 300 s.f. of attic area. (The ventilation area of vents refers to free area.)
If you get toxic black mold from a water leakage problem see my article on How to Practice Black Mold Prevention
Resources
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Comments
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If you live in the north you are going to get ice dams on your roof. As the sun comes out some ice melts and water builds up behind the dam, flows under your shingles, and drips into your house. The Canadians figured out how to stop the leaks 50 years ago. Simply fill and ice melt sock with icemeltcrystals and lay it over the dam. It quickly melts a channel for the water to drain off the roof. Not only does the water drain it continues to melt the gutter ice so it works too. You can even use ice melt socks to prevent ice dams by laying them in strategic areas around the roof before you get any snow at all.
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M. J. Mewes
Jan 03, 2009
I'm lucky I never get ice dams like those, great article.
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Chris Carruthers
Jan 03, 2009
You could have used my house as an example! This is a very timely article. It should be listed on the eHow front page! 5 *'s
