Winter Ice Damage Your Home

January Tip of the Month – Don’t Let Winter Ice Damage Your Home!

January 1, 2021 | Love Where You Live | By: The Goodhart Group

January Tip of the Month –

Don’t Let Winter Ice Damage Your Home!

Sparking icicles hanging from your home may look beautiful, but they can cause major trouble! Don’t let the beautiful winter ice damage your home. Allow us to explain.

So What Happens?

What causes icicles to form – roofs covered in snow and freezing temperatures—also leads to ice dams: thick ridges of solid ice that build up along your roof’s eaves. Ice dams (and icicles) form when the snow melts, runs down your roof and then refreezes near the edge. Ice dams occur when part of your roof warms to temperatures high enough to melt the snow, while the roof edge remains below freezing.

How Does Winter Ice Damage Your Home?

Ice dams can cause gutters to break off, loosen shingles, and create water back-ups and leaks in the house. The unfortunate effects of water damage are many – warped floors, stained and sagging ceilings, peeling paint, wet (and then ineffective) insulation, mold, and mildew. Icicles can also cause damage to your home’s foundation upon melting. The issues ice dams create can be exacerbated by ineffective or clogged gutters.

As beautiful as icicles may look, do not let them grow! Not only are icicles bad for your home, but they are extremely dangerous to the people below them too.

To Prevent Ice Dams

  • To prevent the headaches ice dams can bring, be sure to check your roof often!
  • Keep your roof cold to prevent melting. Click here for simple ways to do so.
  • Also, look into de-icing cables, such as these made by Easy Heat.  They are an inexpensive way to prevent this issue.
  • Sweep the snow off your roof with a handy sweeper like this one.

Have questions about maintaining your home or improving its value? Please reach out! We are always happy to help.

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