Ice dams on your roof can present a huge headache in mid-winter. It’s difficult to add to the frustration o an ice dam. There’s just nothing quite like that steady drip from the ceiling and nothing to stop it immediately. If you’ve never had to deal with such a drip, consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, you’re likely using your favorite search engine to find out “How to remove an ice dam from your roof“.

There’s no better time than now to find out how you can prevent an ice dam. In fact, learn from your mistakes and know that your insulation in your attic is quite possibly to blame.

What’s The Cause Of Ice Dams?

In the winter months when you’re warming your home, the warm air circulates through your home and up into the undersides of your roof. This is how an ice dam is created:

1. Heat from indoors transfers through the attic ceiling and warms the roof of your home.

2. Snow begins to melt from the roof as the roof heats up.

3. Melted snow drips down the roof until it arrives in a cooler area. Likely this area has poor insulation or the eaves are overhanging the edges of the house.

4. This area of the roof or house isn’t heated and the water freezes into ice. Frequently this presents as icicles. As the snow continues to melt the area begins to form an ice dam.

5. The water continues to melt rolling down the roof however, it’s blocked by the ice dam so it becomes standing water on the surface of your roof.

6. In time, this standing water works its way into the shingles and into the home.

Ice dams can create all sorts of structural damage to your home. There can be many moisture issues hidden inside of walls and the ceiling where they can begin to grow mold.

How To Prevent Ice Dams On Your Roof

By the time you notice an ice dam, it may already be too late for many homeowners, it’s far easier to prevent an ice dam than it is to begin to repair an ice dam. Thus, it’s far easier to prevent an ice dam than it is to get rid of one.

It’s important to start by ensuring that your insulation and air sealing are all up to date. There are a variety of insulation materials that you can choose from to ensure that your insulation is up to date. Naturally, some forms of insulation are superior to others.

Taking these measures will go far to help ensure that your home stays warm and dry. Depending on where you live, you may even be able to utilize spray foam or cellulose insulation. Proper insulation may include:

Prevention of ice dams on your roof
Improved comfort in your home
Decreased heat waste
Reduced monthly energy bills
Improved indoor air quality

Call Insulation Contractor

You don’t have to deal with ice dams. Give MGY Insulation a call and let us give you a home energy audit today to ensure that your insulation is up to date in all of the areas of your home.

We’ll locate the weak areas and work together with you to find a solution for the areas that are most susceptible to ice dams in the winter months.

Together we can find the right gutter to keep ice dams at bay including attic sealing and spray foams.

Use the whole-home approach and improve your home’s performance. Stop ice dams before they start.