Ice Dam Where You Stop Raking Higher Up Roof

The meltwater then runs down toward the colder eave overhang where it freezes.

Ice dam where you stop raking higher up roof.

This scenario is often the result of a warm attic. Climb a ladder and carefully place the nylons on the ice dam perpendicular to the edge of your roof several feet apart. Ice dams form when the snow melts on an upper warmer part of a roof. An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow water from draining off the roof.

A dam will grow on the parts of the roof that are below freezing. The water trickles down between the layer of snow and the shingles until it reaches the eave of the roof which stays cold because it extends beyond the side of the house. The calcium chloride in the stockings will react with the ice forming channels in the ice dam within several hours. Poor ventilation and temperature control in the attic can also cause ice dams.

This only occurs when part of your roof warms to above 32 degrees f warm enough to melt the snow while the roof edge remains below freezing. An ice dam forms when the roof over the attic gets warm enough to melt the underside of the layer of snow on the roof. For an ice dam to form there must be snow on the roof. So the first step is to remove this ice and snow using a snow rake which is a retractable rake that can extend up to about 17 feet or so in length.

The higher surfaces of the roof s surface must be above 32 f and lower surfaces below 32 f. As the ice accumulates it forms a blockage that prevents the snowmelt from flowing off the roof. Just raking the first several feet of snow from the eaves is typically enough to prevent the formation of ice dams but in some cases this will cause ice dams to form higher up on the roof. Here are five ways to remove an ice dam from your roof.

The water that backs up behind the dam can leak into a home and cause damage to walls ceilings insulation and other areas.