We had an ice dam removal job today. The customer’s gutters were full of ice and ice dams were forming on the edge of his roof. Ice and water were backing up under the shingles and led to water coming into his home. How do we remove ice dams? We use industrial equipment that uses super heated water and steam to safely remove ice dams without damaging the roof or gutters. Ice dams typically form after a snow fall of at least a few inches and very cold temps. Usually the required amount of snow is 6+ inches, but even with a few inches of snow there are areas of a roof that may accumulate more snow through drifting to create an ice dam. Ice dams form as water from melting snow runs down the roof. As the water approaches the coldest part of the roof above the soffit and guttering the water freezes. As long as there is snow melting on the roof this process continues until it builds up enough to create a ridge or ice dam. Water from the melting snow then accumulates and pools up behind the ice dam and as this water refreezes it can seep up under the shingles or siding of a home and begin to leak into the home where it can cause extensive damage. Below is a picture of one of the ice dams we removed yesterday with our diesel powered steam and hot water machine.
