Ice Dams On Roof Eaves

Heat collects in the attic and warms the roof except at the eaves.

Ice dams on roof eaves.

An ice dam is an ice build up on the eaves of sloped roofs of heated buildings that results from melting snow under a snow pack reaching the eave and freezing there. But winter is coming and along with it one of your home s worst enemies ice dams. If snow and ice build up high enough in the gutter it can provide a foundation for an ice dam. Now that you know how ice dams form here s a quick and easy way to prevent them.

Ice dams are continuous chunks of ice that form along the margins of your roof. Ice dams form when warm air from inside your home melts snow on the roof. Birth of an ice dam. The flatter the pitch of the roof the easier it is for an ice dam to get a grip.

While frozen they re no more trouble than the icicles that hang down. Attached with clips along the roof s edge in a zigzag pattern heated. Meltwater from the warm roof backs up behind it flows under the shingles and into the house. When an ice dam gets big enough melted water backs up behind it and seeps underneath.

What damage do ice dams cause. Severe ice dams can weigh many hundreds of pounds compromising the structure of the roof eaves. More critically ice dams can cause meltwater to back up under the shingles where it can flow down and ruin ceiling and wall surfaces. The icicles hanging from your eaves and gutters last year may be a faint memory now.

Ice accumulates along the eaves forming a dam. How to prevent ice dams use heated cables. Freezing at the eave impedes the drainage of meltwater which adds to the ice dam and causes backup of the meltwater which may cause water leakage into the roof and consequent damage to the building and its contents if the water. Finally ice accumulates along the eaves forming a dam.

Gutters at the eaves can also trap snow and ice. Meltwater from the warm roof backs up behind it flows under the shingles and into the house.