How To Melt Ice On My Roof

Secure shingle clips to roof shingles using a flathead screwdriver making sure to align them in a zigzag pattern.

How to melt ice on my roof.

An ice dam is a condition that develops when the warm air in the home melts the snow that is against your roof leaving a pile of snow above the melt. The melted snow trickles into your gutters and then refreezes. Before the fact is to install heat tapes in a w pattern at the eaves of the roof into the gutter down the downspouts. The idea is to melt the ice dams so that the roof and gutters can drain them like before.

It won t come until it s 38f. After the fact is too late. This is a great way to get the water flowing if you have ice buildup. In this video master electrician for ask this old house scott caron helps a homeowner install heat cables on his roof to stop ice dams.

Purchase the salt you d use to melt ice on a sidewalk or driveway from a local hardware or big box store. You will need an empty spray bottle and warm water. Clip in the cable along the same zigzag pattern as the shingle clips. Distribute roof melt tablets evenly around the perimeter of the roof either near the eaves or near the gutters to assist with ice reduction.

Helmet heat is a self regulating heating system that melts snow and ice before it can form into damaging mounds weighing down on your roof gutters and downspouts. Over time the calcium chloride will clear a channel in the ice dam allowing the water on your roof to escape. 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. The socks will create melt a channel in the ice to allow the water to run off your roof instead of building up along the eaves and leaking inside.

Helmet heat is wired throughout your gutters and downspouts. Toss roof melt into the gutters as well. Handle hot or warm water with care to avoid accidents. Fill a woman s stocking with calcium chloride and lay it in position directly over the ice dam in your gutter.

There truly is no wrong way to do this. With it snow melts before it hits the eaves of your roof and water flows down your heated gutters and downspouts. Install a thermostat plug it in before you need it. Next go up on the roof and put ice melt socks vertically one end onto the gutter and the other end up the roof slopes spacing them every 3 feet.

Put the warm water inside the bottle and spray it on directly to the ice formations until it melts.