Ice Dam Water Damage Repair SErvice Chicago

Ice dams form when a building’s roof is too warm to keep the snow on top of it frozen. Here’s how it works:

• Heat rises through your building into the attic. Generally, this happens in older buildings with insufficient attic insulation.
• All that heat that builds up in the attic escapes through the roof, melting the snow directly above it.
• The snow becomes water and flows down the roof until it meets the roof eave.
• The roof eave sits away from the building and is not heated by the attic, which means it’s usually below-freezing.
• The water meets this frigid portion of the roof and freezes, creating an ice dam.
• As water continues to melt from snow on the higher portions of the roof, it flows down and becomes trapped behind the dam.
• With nowhere to go, this water forces its way under the shingles of the roof and eventually flows into the building.

While ice dams may seem like tiny things, they can cause extensive damage. When ice dams form, they block water runoff, causing the water to back up and find its way under the building’s roofing material. Eventually, all that trapped water has no choice but to drain down door jambs or around windows, into drywall, and into wall cavities.

According to the Insurance Information Institute (IIS), the average claim by homeowners for water damage and freezing is about $3,000. Even worse, these claims seem to be getting more common. IIS reports that water damage and freezing claims increased from 14.6% of all claims in 2005 to 23.7% of all claims by 2009.

With that in mind, here are a few ways ice dams can wreak havoc on your building:

• Loose or missing shingles.
• Gutters that are broken or displaced.
• Wet insulation, ceilings, paint, and walls.
• Formation of mold and mildew.

If left untreated, ice dams can damage your building’s roof, compromising building materials and even causing the roof to collapse or sag. Don’t wait to seek help for your ice dam problem. Contact ServiceMaster Restoration by Zaba for professional ice damage repair.

Most policies cover water damage resulting from ice dams. Our cleaning and restoration services are also covered by homeowners insurance. In fact, we can assist you with filing your claim. Keep in mind that very few policies cover removing ice dams from the roof.

Repair costs vary from one job to the next. It all depends on the extent of damage and the repairs necessary to complete our restoration work. When we inspect your property, you receive a complementary damage assessment that details exactly what needs to be done.

Use a roof rake to pull down snow and keep it from accumulating along edges. Some homeowners hire an electrician to install heat cables while others use aluminum ice belts along the roofline. There are ice dam removal products available that can speed up the melting process, but prevention is always your smartest strategy. Here are more tips:

1. Add more insulation

If your building is older, insulating the attic is the easiest way to prevent ice dams in the long-term. Modern spray insulation fills every gap and crack in your attic, locking warm air in and preventing heat loss through the roof.

Even if you don’t plan to re-insulate the entire attic, consider using caulk or foam sealant to fill gaps and cracks around windows, vents, access hatches, chimneys, and other fixtures in the attic. This will help prevent heat loss and reduce the likelihood of ice dams.

2. Vent the attic

Attics with proper ventilation draw in cool air from outside and expel warm air. This process keeps the attic cool and helps your roof stay below freezing all winter long, thereby making it impossible for ice dams to form.

3. Add heated cables

For a quick and easy fix to ice dams, pick up some heated cables at your local hardware store. These cables use clips to attach to the edge of your roof, where they emit heat that prevents moisture from freezing and causing an ice dam.