An ice dam is the ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof which prevents melting snow from draining as it should. The water that backs up behind the ice dam can leak into the home and cause damage to walls, floors, ceilings, insulation, and other areas.

Most ice dams occur on the lowest edge of your roof. We frequently find them in other locations, however.

Roof ice and ice dams result from the escape of heat into the attic or roof space.  This heat builds up and eventually melts snow on the roof, which,  above runs to the cold edge of the roof and forms an ice dam.  Factors such as ventilation, insulation, solar orientation, tree coverage, home architecture, snow cover, home owner lifestyle and of course weather conditions all interact to determine ice dam activity on every home.  Because no two houses are the same, it is common to have neighboring homes on two ends of the ice dam spectrum; one may have major leaking, while the other is virtually unaffected.