Ice Dam Removal in Saskatoon
The ridge at the eave cleared with steam, and a straight answer about the attic heat loss that put it there.
An ice dam is not a snow problem. It is a heat problem that presents as a snow problem, which is why the same houses in Saskatoon get one every single year while the neighbours never do.
Saskatoon Snow Co clears them, and will tell you honestly what is causing yours.
How One Forms
Warm air escapes from the living space into the attic through gaps around light fixtures, hatches, plumbing stacks, and poorly sealed top plates. It heats the underside of the roof deck.
Snow sitting on the warmed part of the roof melts from below, even when the air outside is well under freezing. The meltwater tracks downhill and arrives at the overhang, which hangs out past the heated part of the house and sits at whatever the outdoor temperature is. There it freezes again.
Do that for a few days and a ridge builds along the eave. Behind it, meltwater has nowhere to go and pools on the roof.
Why the Water Gets In
Shingles are designed to shed water running downhill. They are laps, not a seal.
Standing water behind a dam works backwards under those laps by capillary action, reaches the sheathing, and finds its way through to the ceiling below. The first sign is usually a stain in a corner or along an exterior wall, and by then the water has been there a while.
Clearing Without Wrecking the Roof
Ice bonded to shingles cannot be chipped off without taking granules and often whole tabs with it. Hatchets, hammers, and chisels are all ways to convert a leak into a re-roof.
Steam melts the bond and lifts ice away cleanly. Channels get cut through the dam so the trapped water drains immediately, which stops the leak before the whole ridge is off, then the edge gets opened up properly.
Icicles hanging over entries and walkways come down at the same time. A large icicle over a doorway is a genuine hazard, not just a symptom.
Fixing the Cause
Removal handles this winter. The dam comes back next year unless the heat loss is addressed.
That means air sealing the attic penetrations and getting insulation to depth, so the roof deck stays close to outdoor temperature and the snow on it stops melting from underneath. It is not work we do, and it is what will actually end the cycle.
Reducing the snow load on the roof edge in the first place is covered under roof snow removal. Ground-level ice from the meltwater these dams shed is dealt with under ice control and salting.
What's Included
- Roof edge and gutter line opened up
- Channels cut so meltwater can drain
- Icicle removal above walkways and entries
- Cleared without stripping shingles
- Advice on the heat loss causing it
Other Services We Offer in Saskatoon
Ice Dam Removal Questions
Why does the same house get one every winter?
Because the cause is inside, not outside. Warm air leaking into the attic heats the roof deck, snow melts against it even on a cold day, and that water runs down to the overhang, which hangs past the heated part of the house and stays at outdoor temperature. It refreezes there. A few days of that builds the ridge, and a house that leaks heat will build one again next January.
Why is water getting inside if the roof is fine?
Shingles shed running water, they do not seal against standing water. Once a dam holds a pool behind it, that water sits and works its way under the shingle laps by capillary action, onto the sheathing and into the ceiling below.
Can I chip the ice off myself?
Chipping at an ice dam with anything hard is how roofs get destroyed. The ice is bonded to the shingles and comes away with them. Salt tablets and pantyhose tricks are similarly hard on a roof. Steam is the method that removes ice without taking the roof with it.
How do I stop it happening again?
Attic insulation and air sealing, because the root cause is heat where it should not be. Removing the dam solves this winter. Sealing the leaks and topping up insulation is what stops the pattern.
Get a Free Ice Dam Removal Quote
Seasonal routes fill before the first real storm. Get a free quote on your property now.