Those beautiful, colorful, shiny icicles lights hanging from your roof may look nice but the real ones are an issue. Icicles are a really bad sign that you may have an ice dam issue, a ridge of ice along the edge of your roof can put a dent in your wallet when it causes damage your house. But don’t freak out just yet. Here are six things every homeowner needs to know.
1. Icicles send water pouring down your walls
Count yourself lucky if you caught the ice dam in time so that moldy insulation was the only problem. A really bad leak will continue right through the insulation. This may take some time, but once it does, it’ll start to destroy the walls, ceilings, flooring. That’s a great way to wave goodbye to the in ground pool Savings Account you’ve been working on for years. One way to ensure homeowners never get a catastrophic leak is to ensure there’s never enough ice or snow to cause an ice dam. Homeowners need to making sure the base of their gutters & downspouts are clear. Dependable Construction recommends having them cleaned out twice a year. But that’s only the beginning of the issues Icicles can cause.
2. Icicles can destroy your roof’s insulation.
So here’s how ice dams work: When heat escapes through your roof, it melts the snow up there. Then it gets cold again, and that water freezes along the ridge of your roof. If this happens enough, the ice builds up into an ice dam. Once the ice dam is established, when the warm air melts more snow, that water gets trapped behind the ice dam and just hangs out there in a puddle. Believe it or not water isn’t supposed to puddle up on your roof. It can seep down through the roof and turn your insulation into a wet mess. This is one of the reason Ohio passed a code in 2006 require all new roofing systems have Ice & water shield installed along all gutter line of a heated and cooled structure.
3. Icicles can pull roof shingles loose and rip down gutters.
Ice dams weigh a ton, when mixed with debris in the gutter. Which means all that weight can tear gutters away from your house. But if there’s no ice, there’s no ice damage. So make sure your home’s insulated well and as adequate venting and you shouldn’t have a problem. But if you see one forming, try this DIY trick: Fill pantyhose with an ice-melt product, and place on freezing-prone points of your roof.
4. Icicles infest your house with mold.
Once your insulation is that soggy mess, something worse could be lurking. MOLD! It’s just nasty. Mold is expensive to get rid of and ensure it’s completely gone. Fittingly, the way to prevent it is good insulation. So your roof doesn’t get too warm in the first place. Having sufficient insulation is key, but keep in mind that a well-insulated attic has to be balanced with good ventilation system. An attic shouldn’t be more than 15 degrees hotter than rest of the house. If it is, you need better ventilation system. Not sure about your insulation/ventilation balance? You can find a home energy auditor through the Residential Energy Services Network, or check with your local energy utility, as many of them offer free audits to customers.
- Icicles damage something or someone special to you
Did we mention how heavy ice dams are? Weight can inflict damage to your gutters as well. A ton of it! And in dangerous ways you don’t even want to think about. Like suddenly breaking loose and falling on:
- Glass table
- Your car or truck
- Your kids
- Your pets
- Even you
If preventative measures haven’t worked to keep icicles at bay, or you’re just learning about ice dams too late to prevent one, getting rid of an ice dam as quickly as possible is crucial. This is where companies like ours can help.
#6 Icicles grow in lots of spots around your house, not just the roof
It makes sense that ice dams can damage your roof. Duh. But ice danger just keeps going and going when it clings to any part of your house. Case in point: gas meters, a frozen-over meter can cause your gas to shut off unexpectedly, not something you want to happen during the winter. Other places icicles hang out on:
- Tree limbs
- Playground equipment
- Outbuildings
- Anything outside that will let snow puddle on it when it melts
It’s tempting to put your home maintenance blinders on during the frigid winter months, like I do when it comes to cleaning out my truck, so try to carve out a little time to pull on your boots and take a slow lap around the outside of your home. You don’t have to do the work of fixing the problem, but you need to know whether or not you have a problem.
Clearing away the beginnings of any ice buildup can save your wallet big time and give you piece of mind.
