Has anyone had success with this technique for removing ice dams? Hook up a garden hose to the hot water (washing machine hook up) and gently hose down the dam with very hot water. It’s supposed to loosen it up enough to break off the big chunks. It sounds like this will result in another (although smaller) ice dam, but it might buy some time. I might try it this weekend, but would appreciate any advice or warnings against.
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Funny you should mention this. I just heard about this method this week. Not sure if it would work or not. It seems to me you need to get the water behind the dam off A.S.A.P. Not to mention where that hot water would go ( onto a deck or porch below, then refreeze). I've lived in "ice dam" country all my life and the last 2 weeks have spent a lot of time addressing this problem for various customers. Here's what I do. Remove all the snow from the roof behind the ice dam. Use rock salt or calcium chloride directly on top of the ice dam and let it work. After 2-3 hours the ice gets all honeycombed and the water starts to drain. Come spring, go back and fix the problem at the source. Good luck.
Dana
Salmon Falls Housewrights
I've lived in my current house 2 years, both had horendous ice dams, 4-5" tall & thick.
I added a soffit vents and vent spacers in the attic. So far, no ice buildup at all. We'll see.
A trick I used last year, take an old pair of nylons and cut the legs off. Put ice melt in the legs, whatever length you need to. Knot the ends and set on the ice dams. It slowly melts through to the roof surface leaving a gap in the dam to allow water to flow around. Once it's through you move it and refill if necissary. Divide and conquer.
I too would be concerned w/ the volume of water falling on the ground forming ice sheets. But, in the right area, sweeping the water away before freezing, it may work.
Have fun.
Bill
i bought a snow rake for the one section of my house that had a problem (NW corner, behind some trees) never got enough snow to fully melt. Two winters ago, the melting water trickled over the raingutter, running down my wall and finding entrance over my sliding doors. I originally thought about using a hot cable here.
now, after a a big snow, i just pull the snow off the edge of the roof in this area, takes two minutes.
the rake has 4 aluminim poles that snap together and can reach the top almost any two story home, cost 50 bucks.
I've removed them by getting on the roof with a hatchet and carefully cutting them apart. Obviosly only do this if the roof isn't too steep or more than 1 story off the ground. I wouldn't do this from a ladder either, they can get very slippery in the snow. You may want to check a rental store for a steamer like the pros use.