Bill's Bright Ideas: Beware of Ice Dams

Though March holds the promise of spring, history tells us we aren't out of the woods yet. With this month's usual up-and-down temperatures comes the continued risk of ice dams and the resulting damage to your home.

Those icicles hanging from the roof edge may be beautiful, but they could well be a sign of an impending ice dam. The three things necessary to form icicles - snow, warmth to melt the snow and cold weather - are also what cause ice dams to form.

Leak-causing ice dams can begin when heat from inside your home seeps out through the roof and melts the snow that's on it. If that melted snow freezes again when it hits the eaves, it can cause a dam to form. Water from continued snow melting on the roof may then have no place to go except back up. From there it can then travel under roofing shingles and find its way into your home.

Ice dams can lead to significant damage to the outside and inside of a home. Outside, they can tear off gutters and loosen shingles. Inside, leaking water can cause peeling paint, warped floors, damaged ceilings and wet insulation.

Most ice dam formation is due to poor attic insulation, improper roof installation, or an aging or damaged roof - all of which can contribute to heated indoor air escaping.

So what steps can you take to prevent ice dams? You can begin by scheduling a Mass Save home energy assessment. During the assessment, an energy specialist will evaluate your entire home for energy-saving opportunities, including identifying air sealing and insulation measures that could help fix the underlying problems of ice dams.

The goal is to reduce the temperature of the roof by reducing the ambient temperature in the attic, making the roof temperature as close as possible to the outside temperature. Here are some tips:

• Sealing air leaks effectively in the attic prevents heated interior air from leaking into the attic space and warming the roof deck.
• Adding insulation in the attic floor prevents radiant heat transfer from the home's interior.
• Removing heat sources, like ductwork or hot water piping, from the attic space or - if this isn't feasible - sufficiently insulating them.
• Installing a waterproof membrane above where the water may accumulate on the roof.

Before your Mass Save home energy assessment begins, be sure to mention any problems you're having with ice dams so the energy specialist can pay extra attention to your roof and attic. You can sign up for your no cost assessment by visiting the Mass Save website, or calling 1-866-527-SAVE (7283). As part of this program, eligible homeowners can receive incentives of 75 percent (up to $2,000) of the cost of approved insulation improvements, as well as no-cost targeted air sealing.

If you have ice dams, consider calling in a professional to remove them. If you've had them in the past and haven't corrected the underlying problem, consider a Mass Save home energy assessment to see if we can help.

If you're a member of the media and would like to arrange an interview with Bill, please call Rhiannon D'Angelo (617-424-2116) in Eastern Mass. or Priscilla Ress (413-787-1055) in Western Mass.​