What is an Ice Dam?
According to
Michigan State University Extension, ice dams form when heat from the attic melts snow on the roof, causing water to run down and freeze at the colder eaves, eventually creating a barrier of ice.
As more snow melts, it accumulates behind this barrier; water can then back up under shingles and leak into the home, potentially causing extensive damage to interiors and insulation.
Insulation, Ventilation, Air Sealing Can Solve Icicles
Why pay for ice dam removal when you can pay the same amount of money to prevent it permanently. Ice dams were a major problem for homeowners in February 2021. Take a look at this photo of a home in Skokie Illinois.
“An icicle is simply a measuring stick of heat loss” Tim Darling. Take a look at your neighborhood, if there are homes with no icicles they have air sealed and insulated properly. If you have any icicles at all, any, they are unacceptable, they may look beautiful on postcards, but they are indicators of heat escape from the living space.
If you had to build a fire and were loosing heat you will have to add more logs to the fire. Same thing applies, you are cycling your furnace. Warming the underside of the roof sheathing and creating snow melt.
