Ice Under Snow On Roof

Stop ice dams with a cold roof.

Ice under snow on roof.

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. To use the rake pull the snow toward the edge of your roof. If you still have snow or ice on your metal roof there are several different tools you can use to melt the snow like heat cables calcium chloride or hot water. Hacking away at ice dams with a hammer chisel or shovel is bad for your roofing and dangerous for you.

Purchase a long handled aluminum roof rake preferably with wheels or a non stick graphite blade. Snow melts on the warm roof and then freezes on the cold eaves. Not all roofing underlayments are the same. Ice accumulates along the eaves forming a dam.

The ice and water shield is an amazing roofing product that was first introduced in the 1980s. Ice dams and icicles form when the snow melts runs down your roof and refreezes near the edge. If you have a roof that you know to be older than 1980 it won t have this great product under the shingles. A metal roof is great for preventing snow build up because the sun heats up the metal and causes the snow to slide right off.

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. Meltwater from the warm roof backs up behind it flows under the shingles and into the house. Repeat the process after every snowfall to keep the roof clear of ice dams. 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.

This scenario is often the result of a warm attic. Ice dams are formed by the continuous melting and freezing of snow due to heat escaping from the house or from a backup of frozen slush from the rain gutters the melted water flows under the snow and freezes as it reaches the unheated soffit area at the eaves thus.