Are you hoping for a white Christmas? While snow may be pretty, cold temperatures as well as ice and snow can take a toll on the roof. It is essential to keep an eye on your roof to avoid ice dams and other roof damaging occurrences. Large amounts of snow and ice can quickly become troublesome, causing ice dams to form as the snow accumulates, melts and accumulates. Ice dams are bad news, so what do you do?
JTR Roofing is the trusted residential roofing contractor for Oakdale and the surrounding areas and we would like to offer up some ways to help prevent damage to your home and its roof this winter.
It is important to ensure your roof doesn’t have any leaks or weak spots. When ice dams form, water then builds up behind the ice dam where it can seep under shingles and into the house. The tell tale sign of an ice dam is a lot of icicles or a large icicle hanging from the roof. You might also find ice in your gutters or downspouts which will cause water to back up behind it and into the house.
An ice dam is formed on a slanted roof when heat from the attic causes snow on the roof to melt. Ice dams are also often the result of a warm attic. So, the key to preventing ice dams is keeping your roof cold. One of the best ways to do so is by ensuring you have proper insulation and ventilation. It is essential your attic is properly insulated so be sure to upgrade your insulation in order to prevent damaging ice dams. Choose an insulation with a high R-value to reduce heat loss by conduction. It is also important to improve attic ventilation. Allowing heated air to escape in a controlled manner will help keep the roof colder which will reduce the melting of the snow.
You can also help protect your roof by removing snow from your roof. But be extremely careful and don’t try to chip through any ice as this can cause damage to your shingles. And, if you have leakage from an ice dam and can’t rake the snow off the roof, the best way to get rid of the ice dam is to hire a residential roofing contractor to steam it off.
Do you need help from our residential roofing contractor serving Oakdale and the surrounding areas? Call JTR Roofing at 651-777-7394 or contact us.
JTR Roofing is the trusted residential roofing contractor for Oakdale and the surrounding areas and we would like to offer up some ways to help prevent damage to your home and its roof this winter.
An ice dam is formed on a slanted roof when heat from the attic causes snow on the roof to melt. Ice dams are also often the result of a warm attic. So, the key to preventing ice dams is keeping your roof cold. One of the best ways to do so is by ensuring you have proper insulation and ventilation. It is essential your attic is properly insulated so be sure to upgrade your insulation in order to prevent damaging ice dams. Choose an insulation with a high R-value to reduce heat loss by conduction. It is also important to improve attic ventilation. Allowing heated air to escape in a controlled manner will help keep the roof colder which will reduce the melting of the snow.
You can also help protect your roof by removing snow from your roof. But be extremely careful and don’t try to chip through any ice as this can cause damage to your shingles. And, if you have leakage from an ice dam and can’t rake the snow off the roof, the best way to get rid of the ice dam is to hire a residential roofing contractor to steam it off.
Do you need help from our residential roofing contractor serving Oakdale and the surrounding areas? Call JTR Roofing at 651-777-7394 or contact us.