Tips to Prepare Your Home for Winter Ice Storms

11/14/2018 (Permalink)

Winter is once again coming and along with it comes one of your home's worst enemies; ice dams. Ice dams are continuous chunks of ice that form along the edges of your roof. During the warmer parts of a winter day, water melting off the roof pools behind the ice and then seeps back up under the shingles; causing damage to the interior of your home. To try and prevent ice dams, you have a few options:

• Make sure all gutters and downspouts are cleared of trapped leaves and debris.
• Being very careful, try to remove the snow off your roof after a heavy snowfall with a snow rake or call in a professional who can provide that type of service. Usually this can only be done on a single story home.
• Make sure that your attic is properly insulated and vented. Building codes require 12' to 14" of insulation.
• The next time you re-roof, run a special adhesive ice-and-water barrier 3" to 6" up the roof from the edge. It can be rather expensive but can save you money in the long run.
• Have heat cables installed on the edge of your roof where ice usually dams up.

As hard as we try to control some of the things that mother nature throws at us, it doesn't always work out. If you suspect you may have damage to your home due to ice damming or any other cause, give SERVPRO of Joliet a call at 815-436-5735 and we will send our trained professionals to help you with your problem.