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How Does Cold Weather Affect Your Gutters?
Cold weather produces conditions that can affect your home negatively, including damage from freezing, which includes your gutter system. Water expands when it freezes, so it can push open the seams of sectional gutters and create other cracks. Ice and snow are heavy, and excess weight from either can cause gutters to sag, gutter brackets to give in and the whole gutter system to collapse. Even a small change in the gutter’s slope can cause more drainage problems. Plus, sagging or iced-over gutters are unattractive and can harm your property value.
Another consideration is the growth of ice with additional layers of snow or with melting that freezes on previous layers of ice during the winter. This accumulation can grow beyond the gutters and begin to work its way under the roof tiles near your gutters. The ice can also move between the gutter run and the wall it is attached to causing the run to become detached from the point it is fastened to.
These points of damage will cause problems when the weather begins to warm up and the ice begins to melt. Your gutters might be damaged to the point that there is no water flow off the roof. That water can work its way into the walls or under the tiles on your roof creating mold as well as other structural damage that will require costly repairs.
Steps You Can Take To Prevent Gutters From Freezing
Remove snow that collects on your roof
A simple step you can take to prevent ice dams from forming is to remove the source. Snow sitting on your roof will melt as the temperature increases, producing run off that will freeze in gutters as the temperatures fall below freezing. Removing snow from a roof will allow you to remove a large portion of the accumulation before it has a chance to melt. It will eliminate the water source that can create ice dams.
Remove debris that has accumulated in your gutters
Tree leaves and material that has broken loose from roofing tiles can gather on the bottom of a gutter channel. This material can block water and prevent it from draining down your spouts. It will also hold water in the clumps of debris even with proper drainage. Cleaning your gutters should be part of your fall maintenance after leaves fall and before the first snowfall. It will be easier to clean out the gutters before cold weather begins as you can use water (especially in the downspouts) to remove debris. However, you should also take the time to remove this build-up after early snows in the fall that occur before your trees have shed all of their leaves.
Make sure your gutter system is sloped properly
It is important that your gutters are working properly in the first place. If the system does not provide a proper pitch, water cannot reach the downspouts. Gutter runs that are flat will allow water to collect in the channels. If the run does not provide a slope, you will need to correct this by altering the angle. This will require disconnecting the gutters and reattaching them at points that create a pitch down towards the downspouts. You should contact a professional!
Use a Chemical De-icer
There are many products that are available that are designed to melt ice. It is important to follow the directions from the manufacturer in order to prevent possible damage to your gutters or the ground below downspouts. For example, rock salt may aid with breaking down ice dams, but it can increase corrosion on metal and damage vegetation in your yard. These products can be sprinkled directly onto the ice in the gutter. You can also fill a sock or porous bag that allows the material to interact with the ice. These containers can be placed on the ice until it is melted and then moved to a new location along the gutter run.
Use a Heat Source
Another type of product that you can use are cables designed to melt ice in gutters. This equipment is placed in your gutter system and can be activated to generate heat to melt ice. It is important to select a heating cable designed for this specific task in order to provide heat without creating dangerous shorts in the electronics.
Using warm water
Warm water can also aid with removing ice in your gutter system. The water can be sprayed from a container such as a water bottle or a garden sprayer. This option works with small amounts of ice and in closed downspouts but is time-consuming.
Do not ever take an axe or ice pick to your roof or gutters unless you’re willing to replace them in the spring. Similarly, blow torches or other sources of flame can do serious damage to gutters and shingles. Even during winter, a direct flame can set fire to the wooden components of your roof. Also do not put salt onto your roof, as it could promote rotting or corrosion of the gutters and may damage your landscaping.
If you’ve exhausted safe methods of ice dam removal, you should turn to a professional for help.
Further Protection Against Ice Dams
Of course, there are other steps you can take to protect your home. For instance, attic insulation and ventilation can help to control the temperature of your attic, which in turn decelerates snowmelt. If an ice dam forms despite your best efforts, ice-and-water barriers often prove to be a valuable safeguard, blocking the intrusion of water into the home and thereby mitigating the worst damage. But no measure addresses the issue quite as directly as installing a course of de-icing cables. In the end, though, which strategy you choose to employ is less important than acknowledging the risk and proactively pursuing a workable solution.
Do Gutter Guards Prevent Ice Dams?
Gutter guards may prevent the gutter clogs that can cause or contribute to ice dams. However, if your roof is developing ice dams because of poor attic insulation, a large eave or another factor, gutter guards won’t help. In fact, it may be harder to clean out ice that has developed in gutter guards than in those gutters without them.
