An ice dam is a wall of ice that forms at the edge of the roof usually at the gutters or soffit.
Ways to melt ice in gutters.
Though ice dams can look picturesque with dangling icicles it s actually hard on your home.
An ice dam is defined as a build up of ice that gathers on the eaves of sloped roofs.
4 if your gutters are already frozen solid and the dam is backed up to the house roof that is seriously going to be tougher.
2 a bucket bag of calcium chloride ice melt.
Cut the leg part off the stockings and fill them up with 2 3 pounds of ice melt and tie the ends.
If necessary use a long handled garden rake or hoe to push it into position.
When it forms the water then backs up behind the ice dam and creates a pool of water.
Next go up on the roof and put ice melt socks vertically one end onto the gutter and the other end up the roof slopes spacing them every 3 feet.
Many contractors employ equipment that injects steam and or hot water into your gutters and through your downspouts to get rid of ice.
Lay the hose onto the roof so it crosses the ice dam and overhangs the gutter.
This may take some time.
There are two options for heated gutter systems.
Reuse old stockings or panty hose.
Fill these garments with a chemical de icer and seal off the ends.
In many cases this is an extremely simple and cost effective solution that can help prevent costly water damage to your home.
The gutter heaters keep the water above freezing in both the gutters and the downspouts allowing it to flow freely away from your house.
Then lay them atop your ice filled gutters and allow the contents to leak through the stockings or hose and melt the ice.
This pool of water can leak into your home and cause damage to walls ceilings insulation and other areas.
Gutter heating cables will melt snow and ice preventing buildup and ice dams as well as decreasing the weight load on your gutters.
It will slowly melt the ice and the substances will drain out of your gutters with the water.
Simply put and ice melt system heats your gutters keeping that water from refreezing and causing mounds of ice.
You can also ask a professional to take care of your gutters or just let them melt on their own.
Removing ice from your gutters is possible but you should use careful strategies that are mostly risk free.
Though the results are guaranteed the cost can run you several hundred dollars and if any residual water stays inside your.
5 ways to get rid of ice dams from gutters.
These include using a snow rake getting some deicer into your gutters or pounding away at the ice with a flat mallet.
The calcium chloride will eventually melt through the snow and ice and create a channel for water to flow down into the gutters or off the roof.
You can try laying the cable on the gutter to melt the ice and pray for warmer days and then keep moving the cable down into the gutter as the ice melt.
