Ice dams are walls of ice that begin at the edge of your roof during freeze and thaw cycles throughout the winter season. Ice dams begin when heat escapes your home or the sun melts snowpack causing snow melt water throughout the day and re-freezes in the evening when temperatures drop. In fact, snow melt water on a roof deck has less chance of re-freezing when it is insulated and covered by snowpack. It is a myth to think removing snowpack will help prevent ice dams!
The melted snow melt water runs down your roof until it reaches the edge and refreezes as it drips off the edge. Here, 90% of ice dams are born! These ice dams have the potential to be extremely damaging to your roof, gutters, downspouts and pool snow melt water which will eventually find its way into your home or business.
Ice dam prevention for your roof is a serious matter. Just ask anyone who has dealt with damage as a result of a leak in a roof. Following are five reasons people wish they had purchased a HotEdge Roof Ice Melt System:
- If left unattended, ice dams can get big enough that snow melt water will pool and creep beneath shingles. The pooled water follows the path of least resistance and eventually destroys sheetrock and insulation resulting in mold, mildew, and rot.
- Roof sheathing/barriers that get wet from snow melt water pooled behind an ice dam can start to grow mildew and even start rotting.
- Preventing ice dams can be exhausting and dangerous without the proper equipment. Ice dams need to be fractured in small chunks. This is a tiring, hazardous, and tedious process. A process which damages roof decks with punctures that allow snow melt water to leak into home or business.
- Without the proper equipment, chemicals like calcium chloride may need to be used which dis-color roof decking and destroy landscaping. Rarely are calcium chloride socks placed in locations that can be effective.
- It’s dangerous to use manual methods to mitigate the hazards of ice dams. Piks and shovels may break the ice dam into chunks, but they also have the potential of destroying roofing materials and landing on the people or fragile property below.
Adding a low-cost, high-performance roof ice melt system to your home or business is the most effective and permanent solution for ice dam prevention.
We invite you to call us at HotEdge today at 800-411-3296, or get a custom quote.
