Dam the Dams: Tips on How To Prevent Ice Dams
Ice dams and the icicles they cause may make for some pretty decoration around the holidays and an easy snack for the kids, but damage to your roof, ceilings and drywall make for a redecoration nightmare. So let’s talk prevention.
That’s All A Bunch of Hot Air
In order to understand prevention, first understand the cause. Ice dams happen when heat escapes through the roof of your home. It melts snow, causes it to run down the roof, then re-freezes when temperatures drop again. This re-frozen water gets under your shingles where it festers and rots – rots your roof beams, joists, and drips down onto your attic insulation and, eventually, your wall studs and drywall.
Just Seal It!
Make sure your heat is staying in! Proper attic insulation is the first step to help prevent ice dams. (This will help reduce your energy bills, too.) The other important step is to seal air leaks, starting from the inside. Take a trip up to your attic. Anywhere you feel a draft, follow to the source of the air leak and seal it up. Next, climb on your roof (be careful!) and do the same – find escaping air and seal it up. Also look for loose shingles and glue them down.
For all this sealing, we recommend a product called Through the Roof!®, a clear roof caulk available a brush-on grade and a traditional cartridge grade. Apply it on the attic side and the roof side. It’s clear and ultra flexible so will stay put and no one will ever know it’s there. It also lasts 2-3 times longer than asphalt repair products.
Not By the Hair of your Chinny Chin Chimney
Be sure to check for leaks around your chimney. If flashing isn’t installed, consider doing so, and seal around it with Through the Roof!. Crumbling mortar? Fix it! Clean out any crumbling mortar and reseal . We recommend a product called Mor-Flexx®. It’s a textured sealant that mimics the look of brick, mortar, stucco, concrete and more, but is flexible and moves with your chimney as it undergoes those temp changes. And your repairs won’t stick out.
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In the end, you’ll rest easy knowing you used products that work to keep everyone warm and dry. Bonus: you won’t be busy with roof repairs (but the kids might miss the icicles).
For more information, visit (Sashco)[http://www.sashco.com/hi/through-the-roof.html].
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Hot Product
Through the Roof!
Get your home ready for fall with Sashco’s Through the Roof!®, the clear roof repair sealant that gives a clear, flexible seal for rooftop fixtures without the look of messy black asphalt. It can be applied to wet surfaces and in cold temperatures, repelling water immediately. Through The Roof! is made to permanently stop and prevent roof leaks and to expand and contract with temperature changes without drying hard or cracking. It lasts 2-3 times longer than asphalt and meets FHA requirements. For repairs that stick, but won’t stick out, use Through the Roof! on common roofing fixtures and materials, including: galvanized metal and aluminum flashing, PVC and ABS vent pipe, skylights, gutters and downspouts, ductwork and vents, chimneys, brick/block/mortar, shingles and shakes, flat roof tile, metal RV roofs. Available in cartridge grade or brush grade. For more information visit http://www.sashco.com/hi/through-the-roof.html
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