Protect your home from Ice and Snow Damage
Even though we haven’t received any snow this fall as we did last year on November 16 there is still time to make sure that your home is protected from any potential ice and snow damage by taking these preventive actions before snow and ice hit Green Country this year. (Above photo is of snow in Green Country in Oklahoma on November 16, 2014 – photo from Fox23.com “Sunday snowfall in Green Country”)
If you have guttering:
Check your downspouts on your guttering. Make sure they are clear and will carry melted snow and ice away from your house’s exterior walls. This will help prevent roof leaks.
Clean out drains and gutters. Make sure leaves and any other debris are cleaned out
Taking a winter trip?
Leave the heat on while you are away to help prevent pipes from freezing.
Snow build up:
Exhaust pipes and air vents. Check your exhaust pipes and air vents once in awhile if there is a heavy snow to make sure snow has not built up around these so heaters, furnaces and dryers function properly.
Doors and windows. Try to prevent any ice or snow built up on windows and doors so when it melts it will not run inside and damage the interior of your home.
Prevent Ice Damming:
Once in a while we get a heavy enough snow and ice storm that melting snow on your roof can hit a rim of ice along the overhang of your roof and cause what is called ice damming. This can cause snow to back up and get under the shingles where it melts.
A good preventive measure is to keep the attic well ventilated so that cold air outside can circulate through it and reduce the temperature of the roof system. Also keep the warm air inside of your house from escaping into your attic with sufficient insulation and sealing openings around exhaust pipes, plumbing vents, and light fixtures from the house into the attic.
Please call us for an estimate if you feel you do not have sufficient insulation or need vents sealed.
If Ice Damming occurs:
The following article provides a simple fix to help clear snow off your roof to prevent ice damming if you don’t have a roof rake – from the Oklahoma News 9 website: (do not chip or break ice dams due to possible damage to the roof.)
“Buy about 12 feet of 1.25 inch PVC pipe, plywood and four bolts, washers, and nuts.
“I cut these two pipes to fit basically this distance, about a foot and a half, close to two feet. And then stuck them together at this T and then drilled holes, four holes to hold it onto the plywood,” explained Neff.
He then connected a 10 foot section of PVC to the T joint and now he’s ready to scrape. Neff said it’s vital to clear around the gutter so snow and ice can’t dam up, but be careful not to scrape the roof except very lightly.
One you scrape and clear off heavy snow, it’s important to completely clear gutters. Neff’s other inexpensive fix involves a sheer sock or pantyhose and rock salt and ice melt.
Putting rock salt and ice melt directly on your roof will damage shingles, but by filling the socks with salt and ice melt, tying them off and sticking a few in your gutters, it will help clear them out.
“Put that sock in there with the ice melt and it will melt around that and flow through that sock and when it flows towards the downspout that will have salt content or ice melt in it and it’ll help clear the gutter all the way down,” said Neff.
While it’s rarer, ice damming can also occur on roofs without gutters. A sure sign you have a potential ice problem is icicles.”
