Safe Removal of Ice from Your Roof

One true icon of winter is the formation of icicles. These are a true sign of the season and can be very beautiful. The problem is that they can also wreck your home. There are many problems that can occur as a result of icicles, or ice dams. One of the more obvious problems is damage to property or people when they fall. There are several action or horror movies out there where the villain is slain by an icicle. While this is a very real threat, it is more likely they will just wound or maim the poor passerby when they drop. There have also been many a person that start to leave for work in the morning and find their vehicle impaled, or at least badly dented, by falling ice. This can get very costly. These are just the most thought of problems.

The true damage from icicles lies in the aftermath. As the temperatures begin to rise or you turn up the heat in your home, the snow and ice begins to melt from the roof. The ice dams can cause the water to pool up and begin to leak into your home. The spot where the roof attaches to the home is the weakest spot for this problem. This can really hurt later in the year. When this joint leaks, you will likely not notice as the water fills the pores of the wood, cavities between the beams, or seeps under the shingles. Any one of these can cause dry rot, attract termites and carpenter ants, or even breed toxic molds in your home. There are some simple tricks to rid yourself of this problem and keep it from happening again.

The first thing that you will want to do is take a broom outside and gently tap away the icicles. Do not force them off or hit them too hard. Some times the ice freezes inside the wood or gutters, and if you hit the ice too hard, you can cause damage to your roof. Just a light tap in the afternoon will knock a good portion of these from your eaves and overhangs. Be careful to stand back when doing this though. You do not want to inadvertently impale yourself with an ice spear.

After you swat away some of the ice, it is time to get to work. The first thing that you will need to do is loosen the ice in the gutters and try to break up the ice dam. One of the best ways to do this is a high nitrate fertilizer. These nitrates will melt the snow just like salt, but instead of destroying your lawn and garden, it may actually help. If you have a ladder, you can easily get up to the gutters and try some other methods. Hair dryers or other heat producing electronics work well. One other option is to lay a strip of heat tape across the ice and turn it on. This will melt it and then be in perfect place to prevent the ice from reforming. Once the ice starts to loosen up, you can grab some of the larger chunks and pull them out of the way. Just be careful when dropping them that no one is under you at the time.

If you can safely get on the roof, you can sweep away the snow that is there. If not, you may need to rig a contraption to help you with this. You do not need to get all of the snow off. You just want to get the majority of it down to keep ice dams from forming. One interesting way is to fill water balloons with hot water and launch them up. This will not only knock down the snow, but it will also help to loosen the ice in your gutters. You can also use a rigid hose extender to spray down the roof. You can run the hose from an inside faucet and use hot water this way as well.

After you get the snow off the roof, you will want to go buy some heat tape. You can run the heat tape across your roof in a Z or a hill shape. This will cover the largest area and let you use less tape. If it is possible, you will want to run the heat tape through your gutter as well. This will not only melt the ice, but will keep it from forming again. If you can heat your attic safely, this will work much better than heat tape. A well ventilated attic will keep the ice from forming as well. You may still want to run heat tape through the gutter and downspouts though. These areas are prone to freezing and are not really effected by your attic's heat. One other trick to help you in ice removal is to seal off your gutters and drains in the winter. This will keep the water from building up in these areas and then freezing.

A little prevention prior to the winter is all it really takes to keep your home ice free in the winter. If you didn't prepare, don't worry though. Following these simple steps can make you better prepared to last the winter. No matter how pretty the ice may look on your home, it can seriously damage your home. It can also drastically increase your heating bill. Think about it, ice on the outside will cause the inside to be much cooler. You can save thousands with these tricks. There are even some organic and natural ice melts on the market that can aid you in your fight against the ice. It is up to you to defend your home from the evil ice empire.