It pays to keep roof maintenance on top of your home improvement list. After all, your roofing is exposed to the harshest elements all year round, and you’ll want to be on the lookout for any potential issues. This includes ice dams, a common roofing problem that can leave your home more vulnerable to weather damage if left unattended. UHQ Construction, your local roof and siding expert shares more insight about ice dams, what causes them and the best ways to deal with them.
What Are Ice Dams?
This term refers to the ice buildup found along the edge of the roof. It occurs when snow melts on the roof’s surface of a heated building, like your home, and runs down it. The meltwater, however, freezes when it reaches an area that’s below freezing—usually at the eaves, where there is no heat. This accumulation continues to grow in size and eventually becomes an ice dam, which may also form along skylights, vents and roof valleys. When left unfixed, ice dams can cause water to leak through your roof and inside your home.
What Causes Them?
You’ll have to check your attic space for this. As mentioned above, ice dams start forming because the snow melts on top of your roofing system. This happens because of poor insulation and inadequate ventilation in the attic, which causes heating energy from indoors to rise up to the roof deck. No worries, however. Just have a dependable, local roof repair company, like UHQ Construction, to inspect your attic space and provide the necessary solutions.
Our highly trained and skilled team will fix issues with your existing insulation so that your roof will no longer allow meltwater to freeze at its surface under a heavy snow pack. We’ll also install sufficient ventilation to ensure heating energy escapes elsewhere instead. By controlling these components, you can prevent ice dams from forming on your roof, and keep the system sturdier and better performing. In fact, fixing your attic insulation and ventilation can also offer energy-saving benefits.
UHQ Construction isn’t just your expert in home exterior services—we can also help prevent ice dams on your roof with our remarkable insulation and ventilation solutions. We serve homeowners in Greenwood, IN, and surrounding areas in Indiana. Call us today at (317) 884-3140 or fill out this contact form to get a free estimate.