How To Get Rid of Ice Dams

Oklahoma has seen some record snow and ice over the past week. We want to share some tips from this helpful article from This Old House.

Click here to read the entire article.

Icicles hanging along the eaves of your house may look beautiful, but they spell trouble. That’s because the same conditions that allow icicles to form—snow-covered roofs and freezing weather—also lead to ice dams: thick ridges of solid ice that build up along the eaves.

Dams can tear off gutters, loosen shingles, and cause water to back up and pour into your house. When that happens, the results aren’t pretty: peeling paint, warped floors, stained and sagging ceilings. Not to mention soggy insulation in the attic, which loses value and becomes a magnet for mold and mildew.

If you’re wondering how to fix an ice dam on your roof, here’s our favorite tip for removing them once they have formed.

De-Icing Method

You can diminish the damage after an ice dam has formed, with panty hose. Fill the leg of an old pair of panty hose with a calcium chloride ice melt. Lay the hose onto the roof so it crosses the ice dam and overhangs the gutter.

If necessary, use a long-handled garden rake or hoe to push it into position. Just be careful not to scrape the roof shingles and cause further damage. The calcium chloride will eventually melt through the snow and ice and create a channel for water to flow down into the gutters or off the roof.

Tip: To keep ahead of ice dam damage, snap photos where you see frosty buildup. Use the pictures later to help target an interior inspection, during which you should check for leaks.