How to Add Salt to Gutters

Frozen gutters can lead to ice dams and serious damage to your home.

Frozen gutters can cause serious damage to your home. What starts as a frozen gutter can quickly turn into an ice dam, blocking water's route off of your roof. When water can't run off your roof in the normal way, it can find its way through your roof, leaking into your home.The only permanent solution is properly insulating your attic to prevent your gutters from freezing, but in the meantime, the clever application of deicing salt and a pair of pantyhose can solve this problem easily.

Things You'll Need

• Pantyhose
• Deicing salt
• Ladder

Instructions

1. Cut the legs off of a pair of pantyhose. Tie the bottom of each leg into a tight knot.

2. Fill each of the legs with deicing salt and tie the top of the pantyhose into a knot.

3. Carefully set up a ladder near the iced-over section of gutter.

4. Place the pantyhose on the roof perpendicular to the gutter. The pantyhose should run down the roof, over the gutter and hang just a little over the far edge of the gutter.

5. Place one pantyhose leg of rock salt over each ice dam on your roof in the same manner.

Tips & Warnings

• Be very careful when using a ladder in cold weather. Be sure that the ladder is stable and that you have a spotter before climbing.

References

• This Old House: Quick Ice Dam Cure
• Frugal Yankee: Ice Dams and Pantyhose
• University of Minnesota: Ice Dams
• Ask the Builder: Deicing Salt and Concrete