Whether you own a charming starter structure or a generational family home, ice dams can be formable a problem. In addition to the excessive weight load on your roof, ice dams, if not addressed, can also destroy gutter systems, fall and damage property below, and the pooled water will eventually leak and cause mold, mildew, and rot inside your home. This damage resulting from water penetration can spread throughout your home (behind walls, in ceilings, etc.) and result in a fortune spent for repairs and restoration.
That is why removing ice dams is one of the top priorities for all homeowners living in a freeze and thaw environment. With specialized preventative ice dam systems available through HotEdge, a solution is possible for you and your neighborhood. With the help of experts from HotEdge, your home and family or business can enjoy the winter season without the concerns or risk of problematic ice on the roof!
Even with the availability of trustworthy solutions, the urgency to remove ice dams through a DIY approach can be pretty tempting. This is especially true if you have too much money at the end of the money or you’re motivated to remedy an existing leak urgently, and you feel handy around your home.
Factoring all that, taking on the challenge all by yourself can do more harm than good. Without help from experts, trying to remove ice dams can also cause significant damage to your property.
To ensure that you don’t take that route, here’s a lowdown on ice dam prevention and removal solutions that you must avoid at all costs.
Methods for Ice Dam Removal
Several methods are widely considered as the ultimate remedy to ice dam removal. But the fact of the matter is that these solutions either are a temporary remedy at best or fail to deliver an acceptable result. In any case, it is advised that you step back and rely on the help of experts.
Ice dam mitigation approaches include but are not limited to the following approaches.
Don’t Break the Ice
“Breaking the ice” might be a great approach to warming up new social conversations, but it is a big problem when it comes to removing ice dams from your roof. The absence of proper ice dam removal tools not only causes a hindrance in properly breaking away chunks of ice but also opens doors to possible damage to your roof surfaces.
When used with excessive force, ice removal tools such as hammers, ice picks, and even ice chippers can immediately cause dents and penetrations in your roof’s surface. As a result, even though the ice dam removal process was successful, you are ultimately left with a damaged roof in need of costly repairs. Hopefully, those repairs do not include restoration expenses associated with mold, mildew, and rot.
To avoid a negative outcome, make sure to use reputable professional services for ice dam removal. This ensures you can get rid of these hazardous walls of ice without causing any harm to your roof or structure.
Don’t Use Salt
Salt is a long-established remedy for breaking down excess snow from porches, walkways, and roads. When you spread it out on surfaces forecasted to receive a pile of snow, it lowers snow’s freezing point and helps it melt away in a quick yet safe manner.
Due to this understanding, many homeowners decide to pour salt on ice dams hoping for a favorable outcome. The problem is that they often do so after walls of ice have formed. This effort provides little to no results, and the magic remedy you hoped for leaves you with nothing but disappointment.
However, even when you spread salt over your roof before ice dam formation, it can slide right off the roof or seep between shingles or seams. The absence of salt then causes ice dams to develop and wreak havoc anyway. Once again, the ideal solution is to call for professional ice dam removal services to remedy the immediate problem but contact HotEdge for a quote for a long-term preventative system.
Don’t Utilize Chemicals
Like salt, pouring certain chemicals all over your roof is also a common concept for removing ice dams. But no matter what the chemical, it doesn’t make it any more effective than wishing the ice dams away.
Simply put, many chemicals are either partially effective or utterly incapable of eliminating a problematic ice dam. More often than not, pouring these chemicals over your roof results in nothing more than a few stains on your roofing material or eliminating your beautiful landscaping below. In some cases, it can also cause extensive harm to organic roof materials such as roof shingles.
That is why it’s very important that you steer clear of many promoted solutions and instead rely on a proper remedy in the form of a vetted professional service. This assures you that qualified experts are at work removing the problem effectively and safely.
Don’t Use Generic Heating Cables
Using heating cables is yet another piece of advice that you can often promote all over the internet. But the issue with this suggestion is the quality of these heating cables.
In many cases, low voltage or non-commercial grade heating cables are not able to adequately eliminate problematic ice formations on your roof, i.e., ice dams! Besides being less than sufficient, when lesser-grade heat cables are not self-regulated, they can significantly drive up your energy bills. But that’s not all. Getting generic heating cables can also leave you with the task of installing them all by yourself, which can cause a world of problems from a functionality and safety standpoint.
For these reasons, to ensure effective ice dam removal, you should reach out to specialized solutions that actually address the issue from recurring. These preventative solutions ensure that your safety, comfort, or budget is never put in jeopardy. At the same time, they also make sure that you don’t have to keep suffering from the hazards of ice dams.
By keeping these tips in mind, you can ensure to safeguard your roof against problematic ice dams and the bigger problem that they can bring to your home in the form of rot, mildew, and mold. With all this understanding, your family can enjoy the winter season of excessive snow while also staying away from heavy expenses related to roof ice that can break the bank.
Contact Our Experts Today!
At HotEdge, our ice dam prevention systems are designed to provide you with effective, simple, yet affordable solutions for this stressful winter season problem. No matter how cold the weather might get or how tough your ice dams might become, our experts can help you handle the issue with a reliable solution.
To see how the HotEdge family can help, feel free to contact us today. We will be glad to take the time to understand your needs and provide optimal solutions that meet your requirements.
