Sharp icicles hanging from your roof? As pretty as they look they can cause a lot of trouble  for your household. Read on some inexpensive tips to save your roof.

— Cindy (@SEObytheC) February 12, 2015

 

 

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The formation of icicles is - snow covered roofs and freezing weather - also forms ice dams. Ice Dams can be very dangerous, they can tear off gutters, loosen shingles and cause water to back and pour into your house. This can lead to paint peeling of walls, waled floors and stained ceilings.

On the bright side, we have a few inexpensive tricks from This Old House to help avoid ice dams. Check them out below:

Heated Cables -

Attach clips to heated cables along the roof's edge in a zigzag pattern. Doing this will allow you to reduce ice dams that lift shingles and cause leaks.

Blow In Cold Air -

Take a box fan into the attic and aim it at the underside of the roof where water is actively leaking in. This burst of cold air will freeze the water right in its tracks.

Rake It -

Pull off snow with a long-handled rake foiled with aluminum. A rake with wheels will instantly change the exterior temperature of your roof without damaging shingles.

Deice It -

Heres an household item that will help with ice damage.... panty hose! Fill the leg of discarded pair of panty hose with a calcium chloride ice melter. Lay the panty hose onto the roof so it crosses the ice dam and overhangs the gutter.  The calcium chloride will eventually melt through the snow and ice and create a channel for water to flow down into the gutters or off the roof.

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