How To Melt Ice On Flat Roof

Together these 3 units will be able to detect when an ice dam is starting to form on your roof turn the system on and melt it before your roof leaks.

How to melt ice on flat roof.

Flat roof ice dam removal rubber roof frozen gutter snow shoveling dover nh manchester portland me. This will melt a channel to allow water to safely run off your roof and break up the dam for manual removal. Cut back tree limbs hanging over the roof before winter hits. If you find a drain clogged try using a plumber s snake to dislodge it.

Handle hot or warm water with care to avoid accidents. Use a garden hose with a high pressure attachment to make sure they re clean as you want rain and melting snow to get off your roof as quickly as possible. Alternatively you can fill paper bags with calcium chloride and toss them up on to the roof just above the ice dam. Run the heating elements back and forth in a zigzag above the gutters.

In addition to the ice melting panels you can and probably should also install an automatic controller unit along with a temperature sensor and a moisture sensor. You will need an empty spray bottle and warm water. In addition to ice dams and icicle buildup snow load drainage and maintenance access become larger concerns. In this video master electrician for ask this old house scott caron helps a homeowner install heat cables on his roof to stop ice dams.

Clip a snow melting system to your roof to resist ice formation. Clip in the cable along the same zigzag pattern as the shingle clips. Snow melting systems take the form of heated wires that clip to shingles and the edge of your roof. The idea is to melt the ice dams so that the roof and gutters can drain them like before.

Put the warm water inside the bottle and spray it on directly to the ice formations until it melts. Instead fill old pantyhose with the calcium chloride and lay it across the dam. Secure shingle clips to roof shingles using a flathead screwdriver making sure to align them in a zigzag pattern. Never use rock salt for this as it will do more damage to your roof than it will to the ice.

Then plug the system into a nearby outlet to melt away the snow. Over time the calcium chloride will clear a channel in the ice dam allowing the water on your roof to escape. Roof heat cable heat trace or ice melt cable types duration. Warmquest uses a variety of roof deicing products to provide customized solutions for roof deicing on buildings large.