Roof Leaks Created From Snow Sitting On Your Roof
If I can recommend one thing to people living in areas
where it snows often is that, you should remove the snow that sitting on
your roof if possible. I'm not suggesting that you go on top of your
roof, there are other methods that you can use like snow rakes with
telescopic poles that extend great lengths for easy snow removal.
Here's what happens, the snow sits on your roof and the snow that
closest to the roofing can actually melt and start working its way down
underneath the snow that lies above it. That would be okay, if the water
actually worked its way all the way down and off of the roof, but that's
not what happens most of the time.
The water that melts on top of the roofing materials, often works its
way down the roof until it reaches areas where the water has now turned
to ice, because of freezing temperatures. We all know what happens once
water starts to freeze, especially if it's next to more frozen water.
It's not going to take long before we have a large chunk of ice sitting
on top of our roof that's making it difficult for any water to run off
of the roof safely. In a situation like this, the water will actually
start to form an ice dam. The ice dam will get larger and eventually
force water backwards underneath the roof shingles and when this water
melts, it could be in a bad spot, underneath the roofing instead of on
top of it.
This isn't going to be a good thing. When you run into a situation like
this, and the ice starts to melt, the melted ice which is now water,
will start to leak onto your ceilings or in your attic somewhere. To
avoid something like this, you should try to keep as much of the snow
off of your roof as possible.
If you have a roof that isn't easily accessible, you should contact a
professional to handle something like this. I don't recommend any one
climbing onto their roofs to remove any snow, because this could be
dangerous. If you can do it yourself, do it safely and if you can't, try
to find someone who has some experience removing snow from roofs in your
community.