ICE DAMS AND INFRARED
(THERMAL) IMAGING

Ice dams are a nuisance and can cause expensive damage to soffit areas, roof sheathing, gutters, and the most outer portion of living area walls.  These ice build-ups can be alleviated, but each house tends to have different reasons for the ice to accumulate in the first place.  First, let examine how this massive ice mound forms on the edge of your roof, then we’ll discuss prevention.

• Your roof accumulates snow.
• The outside temperature drops to below freezing.
• The temperature inside your attic is above freezing, thus raising the temperature of your roofing material to above freezing.
• Because of the temperature differential and the warmer roof, the snow on top of the roof starts to slowly melt and the melted snow (now water) starts to cascade down the roof (underneath all the accumulated snow) in an attempt to drain off the roof or into your gutters.
• As soon as the water reaches the outer edge of the roof (where the roof will not be as warm as the attic cavity) it gets exposed to the freezing air. The cascading water now freezes into an ice mound (that literally clings to your roofing material) along the edges of your roof and the gutters (if applicable).
• As more and more melted snow (water) continues to cascade down your roof, it continues to freeze behind and on top of the previously frozen run off, forming a much larger ice dam. Once this ice dam takes shape, it will literally trap any water that is attempting to drain down and off the roof. Now, all the melting water is dammed and has nowhere to drain to, so it builds up. This accumulating water is simply backing up and is forced right under your roofing material and into your attic or soffit cavity (and then gravity takes over), and this water infiltration simply drips down onto your living area walls, causing the nuisance staining and damage that you are observing throughout your walls.