There's nothing worse than coming home from a long day at the office to discover that your home has installed its own indoor pool. But that's exactly what can happen if ice dams go untreated.
From the Minnesota Extension Service, an ice dam is:
"a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow (water) from draining off the roof. The water that backs up behind the dam can leak into a home and cause damage to walls, ceilings, insulation and other areas."
A thick row of icicles hanging from your eves indicates that you have an ice dam on your roof. Right now we've entered the time of year when the temps can reach above freezing in the day and dip below freezing over night. This will only make existing ice dams worse, as the snow on your roof melts in the day, encounters the dam, has nowhere to go, and freezes into an even thicker dam over night.
When the water starts flowing indoors, you run the risk of having to replace insulation, sheet rock, carpeting, and whatever happened to be sitting below the place where the leak happened.
To avoid this headache, you can have your roof professionally cleaned. Chris Meis Handyman offers two services for ice dam prevention and removal: roof raking and ice dam melting.
Our roof raking service rate is: $100 + $50/hr per person (max. 2-person crew).
Our ice dam melting service rate is: $200 + $50/hr per person (max. 2-person crew). This service includes roof raking as well, to avoid the build-up of any future ice dams.
After the winter weather passes, there are also several things you can do to prevent the build-up of future ice dams. For more detailed information on ice dams and ice dam prevention, read the article:
Minnesota Extension Service, Ice Dams.
To schedule your roof cleaning, call Chris Meis Handyman today at 612-234-1FIX (1349).
