PSA: Check your eavestroughs before the spring melt - learned the hard way

Last March I ignored a bit of ice buildup on my roof in Edmonton, and 3 days later I had water dripping through my living room ceiling. The gutter guy told me a $200 fix in November would have saved me $3,200 in drywall repairs. Has anyone else dealt with ice dam damage before the thaw?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_bailey12d ago

Oh man, I feel your pain. We ended up with water damage in our place a couple years ago and it was a nightmare. What worked for me was actually buying one of those roof rakes with the long handle, I just drag the snow off the bottom few feet of the roof after every good snowfall. Takes maybe 10 minutes and keeps the ice from building up along the edge where the trouble starts. I also make sure my downspouts are clear before winter hits, that alone saved me from another mess last spring when things started melting fast.

carter.joseph11d ago

Have you tried one of those heated gutter cables? I know a friend of mine up in Buffalo, he was having the same problem every winter with ice dams backing up under his shingles. He finally installed those cables along the edge of his roof and inside the downspouts, kind of like what @phoenix_bailey mentioned with the heating cables. It took him a full afternoon to put them up, but he said it was totally worth it. He hasn't had a single leak since, even during those heavy lake effect snowstorms they get. The only catch is you have to remember to plug them in before the snow starts piling up, but he just hooks them to a timer now.

the_olivia12d ago

In Edmonton I had the same thing happen two years ago. Now I toss those little heating cables in the gutters before the first big snow, like $50 at Home Depot and it's saved me a ton of hassle.