What Problems Does Ice Cause in my Gutters?
Ice may seem harmless as all it is in frozen water, and your gutters were built to channel water, right? Not so much. Ice creates just as much of an obstruction as leaves and twigs may, if not more so, and on top of that it adds an incredible amount of strain and weight to your gutter channels. The combination of weight, clogs and potential leaks can cause gutter buildup, roofing damage, sagging ceilings, warped gutters, wet insulation and a myriad of other home problems that doesn’t always stay on the outside of the home. As ice builds up, it will also block the flow of water that is actually melting, refreezing it along any debris that had made its way into the water such as dirt or leaves. This can cause significant build up in the gutter channels once the ice is removed.
What Causes Ice in my Gutters?
Snow is the most common cause for damaged gutters, but in Southern Texas, freezing rain alone can build ice in your gutter system quickly. Any ice, snow or other form of water weight on your roof will melt as the heat of your home reaches the roof, melting into the gutter and causing more ice buildup.
In the middle of a warm climate, temperatures can still reach below freezing, especially at night. Because the air temperature fluctuates so often, leftover standing water in your gutter system can refreeze in less than a day. This includes rain that hasn’t had a chance to drain or runoff from your roofs shingles.
How Can I Remove Ice from my Gutters?
You can remove ice and snow from your roof and gutters in a variety of ways. There’s three common ways to remove these weather obstacles. You can remove the ice from your home with a roof rake, hot water hose or roof tablets and an ice pick.
Roof rakes are one of the most common ways to get rid of ice when it comes to nasty weather such as ice and snow. These rakes have an extra long reach and hard edges to help bust the ice apart and pull it down from your gutters.
The hot water hose will help you spray and melt shallow pits of ice. As an alternative to this, the roof tablets are made of magnesium and potassium to help melt the ice without wasting more water.
