Purchase the salt you d use to melt ice on a sidewalk or driveway from a local hardware or big box store.
Remove snow ice from roof.
Here are five ways to remove an ice dam from your roof.
Call roofmaster or book your free consultation today to remove any snow and ice from your roof.
One way to remove an ice dam is to melt it using calcium chloride ice melt.
Eliminate its fuel source if left alone the ice dam will continue to be built up by the snow and ice up on your roof.
The danger of leaving snow alone.
You ll want to call someone to remove all the snow and ice or there s a good chance the ice dam will cause a leak in your home.
Removing an ice dam from your roof immediately after spotting the signs can be critical to helping prevent damage to your home.
The main danger lies in the fact that snow is heavy and the weight of it can cause some serious damage.
One popular method is to use an electrical cabling system that boosts the temperature of the eaves just enough to prevent ice dams from forming.
So the first step is to remove this ice and snow using a snow rake which is a retractable rake that can extend up to about 17 feet or so in length.
If 6 inches of snow falls on your roof but the nighttime and daytime low temperatures are forecast to stay above freezing for a couple of days you probably don t need to get the snow removed because it will likely melt soon enough or at least decrease significantly in weight and never become an ice dam.
Hergott says that service typically costs about 225.
Wear gloves to protect your hands from the chemicals and throw small handfuls of the deicer onto the roof so it can start melting the snow.
A reputable roofing contractor with a valid general contractor license can remove ice dams and inspect the roof and home for damage.
If removing all the snow and ice is simply cost prohibitive then at the very least have all the ice removed and your overhangs and or valleys cleared of snow.
Sprinkle a chemical deicer on the roof to get rid of large sections of snow.
This means that you don t need to attack the entire roof of snow.
Finally make sure you look at the entire roof.