Are you ready for more snow?

Are you prepared for yet another snow event that may happen this Thursday?   A big issue starting to occur on homes and businesses all over our town is ice dams and leaking roofs.  Make sure you have cleared the snow and ice from your roof, gutters & downspouts before the next storm.  Do you know what an ice dam is?  The gutters clog up with ice, then water runoff from the roof gets trapped by the dam and eventually backs up the roof, travels under the shingles, and leaks into the house. While a permanent fix for ice dams usually requires increasing the insulation, sealing, and ventilation in the attic, there is a simple way to diminish the damage after the dam has formed. Fill the leg of discarded pair of panty hose with a calcium chloride ice melter (which we have stocked up).  Lay the hose onto the roof so it crosses the ice dam and overhangs the gutter. If necessary, use your roof rake to push it into position (another great product that we have stocked up on). 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.