Water Damage caused from Ice Damning

Ice damning is usually the #1 cause for water damage in your Edmonton home during the winter season. With temperatures fluctuating and snow melting and freezing, there can be major damages done to your home or property.

This winter, don’t let ice damning affect your home. We at Canada’s Restoration Services want to teach you all you need to know about Ice Damning and give you preventative tips to help protect your home this winter.

If you are affected, call Edmonton’s #1 Water Damage Specialists. In flooding scenarios, we can have team’s onsite within 45 minutes to dry out the affected areas. We offer Free Inspections on water damage and water leaking. Our 24/7 experienced and trained staff work around the clock to serve you. Damages can occur at any time, so trust in a company that is always available, Canada’s Restoration Services!

To book your Free Inspection or for Emergency Services,

 Call us today at 780-638-1769

What is Ice Damning?

Ice Damning refers to the ice build-up that occurs on the roof during the winter season. When the melting snow drains and freezes before it can fully drain off the roof, you will get a buildup of ice or icicles. Once Ice buildup has developed, any water from the roof cannot drain properly and will enter the creases and crevices in the roof. The water can then enter into your home and drain down throughout the walls. There are different variations of degrees of damage that this can cause, from water dripping from the ceiling or down the walls, to full ceiling cracking and major flooding.

As soon as you notice any signs of Ice Damning, act quickly! The longer the water is entering your property, the more damages and chance for secondary water damages may occur.

What causes Ice Damning?

Ice Damns or Ice Damning is created when warm air from heating our homes meets the cold air from the outside. If your attic is not insulated properly, the warm air from the inside will go straight up into the attic. This will cause the snow on the roof to start to melt. Now that the snow is melting, the cold air from the outside freezes it before it gets a chance to drain properly, thus cause these ice ridges or what we call it, Ice Damning.

Signs are icicles hanging off your roof or a ridge of ice buildup along your eaves trough. Not only are these icicles dangerous to those passing below them, but they are a danger to your property internally. Other signs are patches of the roof that are not covered by snow. You may notice pulling into your driveway that there is a section with no snow on it; that is due to improper attic insulation and a culprit of ice damning.

If you or someone you know is suffering from this issue, make the call today! At Canada’s Restoration Services, we will get you in contact with the best roofing and insulation contractors in Edmonton. First step is to correct the issue and then deal with the damages. For any internal damages, we are the water damage specialists for you. We will clean and remove of any affected materials, install drying equipment and monitor your home or property. Once everything is dried up, we can have our construction teams come in and put your home back to its original state.

Contact Us Today at 780-638-1769

How to prevent Ice Damning?

There are several different ways in maintaining your home to prevent ice damning from occurring;

1. Proper Attic Insulation - The insulation in your attic should be up to code at an R-50. If you do not have enough insulation, the heat from the inside of the home will rise up and escape into the attic. In the winter time this will cause the snow to melt, and ice damning can occur. In the summer time, this will cause condensation in the attic space. Both of these can cause water damage and the risk for mold growth is high.
2. Proper Attic Ventilation – if you have an exhaust fan that is not properly vented outside of the attic through the soffits, the hot air will be blowing directly into the attic. Same as above, in the winter, this will melt the snow, and in the summer, this will cause condensation. Attic Insulation and ventilation go hand in hand and it is extremely important to ensure that your attic is up to code.
3. Roof Maintenance – Many roofs today do not have the proper water membrane installed below the shingles. A common type which is great to prevent ice damning is an ice and water shield. It is laid beneath the shingles and it prevents water that may get underneath the shingles from entering your property. Depending on the structure of your roof, you may only need to have the bottom 3 feet installed, however, doing the entire roof is good idea. If you notice your shingles deteriorating from age, have new ones installed and ensure that a water membrane shield is installed as well.
4. Eaves Trough and Gutter Maintenance – Ice Damning forms in the eaves and gutters of the home so ensuring that they are clear and clean is beneficial. The more debris in the gutters will cause more struggle for water to drain freely.

Water Damage from Ice Damning

Once the water enters in through your roof, it has nowhere to go but down through your property. First signs may be small water stains on the ceiling or you may notice paint bubbling on the walls. If this is left, the more damages will incur and risk for major flooding can happen. Mold growth is very common when it comes to Ice Damning and the longer the issue is left, the more damage will occur. Water is key for mold to grow and it can grow as quickly as 24-48 hours.

First Steps when Experiencing Ice Damning

1. Contact a licensed Roofer who can break up the ice buildup on the roof. If the ice remains, the issue will continue to persist.
2. Contact Canada’s Restoration Services Edmonton to handle the interior damages.

Why Canada’s Restoration Services is right for you!

Being Edmonton’s leading Restoration Company with years of experience and expertise, we can help no matter how big or how small. We have IICRC licenced and certified technicians that can be onsite within 45 minutes or less to start cleaning up your flood.

We guarantee that all your worries will be handle in a professional and timely manner. If you require an inspection to inspect where the leak is coming from, we offer the most advanced technology in leak detection and thermal imaging. We can see any moisture in behind the walls which is not visible to the human eye.

We understand that Ice Damning comes with costs and often times, comes unexpected. We are proud to offer you Free In-House Financing to help through this unfortunate event. With 0% down and 0 interest (on approved credit) you can ease the already boiling stress.

No matter what the water damage or the size, call us today to arrange for your service. Our Customer Service staff will help you through the process and dedicate a project manager to guide you through!

780-638-1769