Ice at the eaves, water inside the wall: how a roofer clears an ice dam and fixes what caused it.
Fastest: call (833) 751-2102. Or send this and we call you back.
An ice dam is a ridge of ice along the eave that traps meltwater behind it so it backs up under shingles and into the house. It forms when heat escaping into the attic melts snow that refreezes at the cold edge. A roofer clears the ice and addresses the heat loss. Souderton Roofing serves Montgomery County.
Picture a roof after a good snow. The upper slope sits over the heated house and warms enough to melt the snow lying on it, while the overhang at the eave stays cold because there is no house beneath it. Meltwater runs down, reaches the cold edge, and freezes. Layer by layer that ice builds into a dam, and the next melt pools behind it.
Shingles are built to shed water downhill, not to hold a pond. Standing water backs up beneath the courses, finds nail holes and seams, and drips through the soffit, the exterior wall or the ceiling below. The first sign indoors is often a stain along an outside wall in the room under the eave, or water running down the inside of a window frame.
Fixing it has two parts: dealing with the ice now, and dealing with the heat that made it. Call (833) 751-2102, say that you have ice at the eaves and water coming in, and you are put through to a roofer who serves your town. A visit is arranged when a roofer is free, and the roofer will explain what can be done in cold weather and what has to wait.
Ice dams need snow on the roof plus heat reaching the underside of the deck. Houses that leak warm air into the attic, with thin insulation or poor ventilation, melt snow from below and refreeze it at the cold eave. Neighboring roofs with sealed, well-insulated attics may stay clear in the same storm.
That is why two houses on one street can behave differently. A house with a leaky attic hatch, a chimney chase open to the attic, and bath fans that vent into the attic space sends heat up. The roof above the heated rooms warms up, the snow melts, and the water runs to the cold edge.
Around Souderton the weather supplies the other half of the recipe: about 20 inches of snow in an average year and about 50 inches of precipitation, by a third-party weather summary. Those are averages, and winters vary, so some years the problem sleeps.
Keeping the roof deck cold. Guidance from building-science groups points to about 12 inches of attic insulation, sealing the leaks around chimney chases, plumbing vents, light boxes and the attic hatch, and ventilating so that air flows from the eaves to the ridge. Code asks for 1 square foot of net free vent per 150 square feet of attic.
Ideally half of that vent area sits at the ridge and half at the eaves, so air enters low and exits high. Blocked soffit vents are a common reason a ventilated attic does not perform. Insulation packed against the eave can seal them shut.
None of this is a promise for a particular house. It is the general approach, and a roofer or an insulation specialist looks at your attic and tells you which parts apply. The ice dam guide for the North Penn area goes into the detail.
It is safer not to. Chipping with a hammer or pick can tear shingles and gutters, and working on an icy ladder or slope is how people fall. A long-handled roof rake from the ground can pull snow off the lower slope. For ice that is already leaking inside, call a roofer.
Some homeowners put salt on the roof, which can stain and damage some surfaces, and the melt runs into gutters and landscaping. Others run a hose of hot water, which freezes again as it runs down. Neither fixes the cause.
Moving the water out of the house is the aim. A plastic bucket and towels inside, and a call to a roofer, is a sound first response when water is coming in.
No. Many ice dams cause no lasting damage to the shingles themselves. What matters is whether water got under them, soaked the deck or insulation, or loosened flashing. A roofer checks after the ice is gone and tells you what repairs, if any, are needed.
Repeated ice dams can wear on an older roof, but the cure is usually in the attic, not on the shingles. A new roof over a leaky attic would form ice dams just the same.
If a replacement is planned, ask the roofer to add edge membrane and to look at venting at the same time. The two jobs share ladders and scaffolding, and doing them together saves effort.
Do not chip at ice with a hammer, chisel or pick, and do not climb an icy ladder or roof. Falls and torn shingles are the usual result. If water is entering the house, keep the room clear, catch the drip, and call.
The roofer checks where the ice sits, how deep the snow is, where water is entering, and whether the gutters and downspouts are frozen full. In a cold snap the aim is to stop water entering the house, not to scrape the roof bare.
Rather than chopping at ice, which can tear shingles, a roofer may use controlled methods such as cutting narrow channels or clearing the ice nearest the gutter so water can drain. Which method fits depends on the weather and the roof.
Removing snow from the lower slope with a roof rake can reduce the meltwater feeding the dam. A roofer decides what can be done safely at height and on a slick surface, and some jobs wait for a thaw.
Once the ice is off, the crew looks for lifted shingles, torn edges and failed flashing. Damaged shingles and any bent drip edge are repaired, and exposed underlayment is covered.
The permanent fix is inside the house. Gaps around the chimney chase, plumbing vents, recessed lights and the attic hatch let warm air rise into the attic, and the roofer or an insulation specialist looks for them.
Adding insulation on the attic floor and opening up vent paths along the eaves and ridge keeps the roof deck cold and evenly cool. The details come from what is found in your attic, and some of this work is done by another trade.
Clearing an ice dam that is already leaking is a stopgap, not a cure. It lowers the risk this week without changing why the dam formed, and the dam often returns after the next snow and thaw. It is for stopping water inside the house.
A self-adhering waterproof membrane can be installed along the eave during a repair or replacement so that water backing up under the shingles has a second barrier. It helps keep water out but does not stop the ice forming.
This addresses the cause. It means sealing the shortcuts where house air rises into the attic, adding insulation, and keeping outside air moving under the deck. See the page on attic and roof ventilation.
No dollar amount is given here, since winter ice work and attic work are quite different jobs and each is priced on what is found. These are the factors that move a quote.
| Job | Typical range | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Winter ice clearing | Priced by the length of eave and the thickness of the ice | Weather and access affect time on site |
| Shingle and flashing repair after water entry | Priced by how much was lifted or torn | Often small, sometimes more |
| Eave membrane added during a repair | Priced by the length of eave covered | Usually done with a larger roof job |
| Air sealing and insulation in the attic | Priced by attic size and the leaks found | May be done by a different trade |
| Interior drying and repair | Separate from the roof work | Ceiling, wall and paint are quoted on their own |
Any estimate is confirmed with you before work starts. Treat a price from anyone who has not looked at the roof and the attic as a rough guess.
Call any hour and explain what is going on. You get a clear price before any work starts.
What builds ice at the eaves is a winter that swings back and forth across freezing. A thaw at midday and a hard freeze overnight lays ice down one layer at a time, and with about 20 inches of snow in an average year by a third-party summary, there is plenty of material to melt.
Row houses and twins make up a large share of the borough's housing by third-party data (about 24 percent are row or attached homes), and in a row the roof edge and the party wall are places where an attic detail is easy to miss. Older farmhouses around Franconia often have additions and long rooflines, which means long eaves that are easy to leave cold or hard to ventilate.
A neighboring township's design figure for ground snow load is 30 pounds per square foot, published by Montgomery Township. That is a structural design parameter, not a forecast, and it is not a statement about your roof. It does remind us that roofs here are expected to carry real snow.
Soffit, ridge and gable venting, plus insulation and air sealing, so the attic stays cold and dry in winter.
Sagging runs, leaking seams, clogged downspouts and fascia that has started to rot, repaired or replaced.
Finding and fixing roof leaks on Souderton-area homes, from flashing and pipe boots to worn shingles, through a local roofer.
A roofer looks over the surface, flashing, gutters and attic, then tells you what they found, in plain language, with photos.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
Ice dams form when heat escaping into the attic melts snow on the upper roof, and the meltwater refreezes at the cold eaves.
The eave overhangs the wall and has no heated room under it, so it stays near outdoor temperature. Snow above the heated part melts and flows down to that cold edge, where it freezes. The ice is a clue that the roof deck above the house is warmer than it should be.
They can open a channel for meltwater, but they do not cure the heat loss that causes ice dams, and they use electricity all winter. Some roofers install them as a secondary measure. Ask the roofer whether they fit your roof edge and how they are mounted.
Ice dams cause leaks along outside walls and at ceilings near the eave after a thaw. Condensation shows as frost or dampness on the underside of the roof deck and nails in the attic. A roofer or attic specialist can tell them apart, and both point back to warm, moist air in the attic.
A fan that vents into the attic puts warm, moist air right under the roof deck, which helps melt snow and wets insulation. Fans are best vented outdoors through a proper duct. A roofer looking at your attic can point out where fans end.
Gutters do not cause them, but full or clogged gutters hold water that freezes and adds to the ice at the edge. Cleaning them in autumn gives meltwater a clear path. The page on gutter repair and installation covers what a roofer checks.
Before the first hard freeze, since attic work and roof-edge work are easier in dry, mild weather. If the dam is already forming, a roofer handles the urgent part first and plans the lasting fix for a milder day. Roof leak repair is a related page: roof leak repair.