Since ice dams is one of the things that may always appear after a heavy snowfall and can always ruin a roof but the only time when someone thinks about this is when it actually happens and there is not something that you can do to repair it. That is exactly why we decided to write this article in order to make you to know more about this topic.

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What are ice dams?

As its name says, ice dams are literally buildups of ice that occurs at the edge of any kind of roof after a snowfall. And even when ice itself is not a problem, when it starts to melt in the roof, damage will be there.

However, ice dams also can occur when there is just an inch or two of snow, so if you live in a place where snows, it is going to be in your life forever.

What causes Ice Dam?

The four main causes that are enemies of your house and are recognized for cause ice damming are:

• Uneven roof.
• Uneven temperatures.
• Roofing underlayment that water can penetrate.
• Household heat escaping to the attic.

How to deal with ice dam?

While most of roofs are effective at shedding water and a good part of them are designed to cope with pools of water, so you can always buy one. Though, this water backs up behind the ice and seeps under the shingles until finds its way through the roof. This can wreak all kinds of havoc inside and outside the house.

The best thing you can do is preventing it with three diferent ways:

1. Attic insulation

The warm spots on the roofs are caused for many things that makes them become less effective, so the goal is have an attic that stays the closer it can to outdoors temperatures.

In order to do this you might add a double door that helps to seal up the access points. Also, look after the heating ducts that runs through the attic, avoiding the leak heat.

2. Attic ventilation

In this case, the more the better. Attic ventilation is the easiest way to prevent ice dam, and yet it is the step that most people omitted. The air must circulate freely under the roof, and the best thing to do this is with a ventilation system through a vent.

3. Re-roofing strategies

The final defense for ice dam is called WSU (waterproof shingle underlayment). This is a special kind of self-sealing asphalt that unlike any standard roofing felt or tar paper, remains waterproof.

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