Ice Dam Removal & Prevention

An ice dam forms when heat escaping through a roof melts snow higher up, and the meltwater refreezes at the colder roof edge or over an unheated eave, building a ridge of ice that backs water up under shingles. Left alone, that backed-up water finds its way into the roof deck, insulation, and eventually interior ceilings and walls; ice dams are one of the more expensive winter damage sources precisely because the damage happens where you can't see it until it's already inside.

Removal uses low-pressure steam or careful mechanical methods to melt channels through the dam without damaging shingles the way chipping or a pressure washer would; this matters because rough removal methods are a common cause of roof damage that ends up costing more than the ice dam itself. We clear channels to let trapped water drain, focused on relieving the dam rather than stripping the entire roof edge.

Removal addresses the immediate problem; prevention addresses the cause. Ice dams are fundamentally a heat-loss and ventilation issue, not just a weather issue: a well-insulated, well-ventilated attic keeps the whole roof close to outdoor temperature, so there's no warm patch to create meltwater in the first place. We can flag likely insulation or ventilation gaps during a removal visit and point you toward the fix, since a roof that keeps forming ice dams every winter usually has a specific, fixable cause.