Rain Gutters Ice Dams

Ice dams can form in your gutters when rainwater or other precipitation backs up in your gutters and freezes due to cold temperatures in the winter late fall or early spring.

Rain gutters ice dams. The more feet of overhang on your roof the greater the potential for bigger. For ice dams to form there must be snow on the roof and at the same time higher portions of the roof s outside surface must be above 32 degrees f freezing while lower surfaces are below 32f. In essence they extend the area of your overhang. When it forms the water then backs up behind the ice dam and creates a pool of water.

See below for a shopp. The more feet of overhang on your roof the greater the potential for big ice dams forming. Why do ice dams form. An ice dam is a wall of ice that forms at the edge of the roof usually at the gutters or soffit.

In my experience gutters can result in larger thicker ice dams by creating a shelf and more depth to the overhang. Nonuniform roof surface temperatures lead to ice dams. An accumulation of ice can also damage your gutters. Lay the hose onto the roof so it crosses the ice dam and overhangs the gutter.

This pool of water can leak into your home and cause damage to walls ceilings insulation and other areas. This backup is usually caused by clogs in the system that prevent water from flowing into the trough down the spouts and away from your home. This in turn adds to the ice sickle or ice dam and will cause it to grow. 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.

Ice dams can form in your gutters when water is unable to leave the system due to blockages and other debris. Gutters just allow the ice to crawl a bit further past the edge of your roof overhang. Those ice dams can cause some serious damage to your home. If necessary use a long handled garden rake or hoe to push it into position.

Even if you have good insulation your roof gets a little warmer than the surrounding environment. Water that freezes then creates a dam or dripping point that unfrozen water will naturally follow. While your gutters are designed to send water from your roof to the ground the ice dam keeps the water at the edge of the roof leading to leaks and rot. With a lack of insulation or heat source water will build around or on gutter guards even if the gutter system did not experience problems in the past.