How To Melt Ice On Flat Roof

Handle hot or warm water with care to avoid accidents.

How to melt ice on flat roof.

An ice dam can easily be made of hundreds of gallons of water so melting it all requires a lot of salt. You will need an empty spray bottle and warm water. This will melt a channel to allow water to safely run off your roof and break up the dam for manual removal. Warmquest uses a variety of roof deicing products to provide customized solutions for roof deicing on buildings large.

Flat roofs can provide many unique challenges. In this video master electrician for ask this old house scott caron helps a homeowner install heat cables on his roof to stop ice dams. The idea is to melt the ice dams so that the roof and gutters can drain them like before. Flat roof ice dam removal rubber roof frozen gutter snow shoveling dover nh manchester portland me.

Never use rock salt for this as it will do more damage to your roof than it will to the ice. Then plug the system into a nearby outlet to melt away the snow. Put the warm water inside the bottle and spray it on directly to the ice formations until it melts. Together these 3 units will be able to detect when an ice dam is starting to form on your roof turn the system on and melt it before your roof leaks.

Clip in the cable along the same zigzag pattern as the shingle clips. If you find a drain clogged try using a plumber s snake to dislodge it. Run the heating elements back and forth in a zigzag above the gutters. Alternatively you can fill paper bags with calcium chloride and toss them up on to the roof just above the ice dam.

In addition to ice dams and icicle buildup snow load drainage and maintenance access become larger concerns. Secure shingle clips to roof shingles using a flathead screwdriver making sure to align them in a zigzag pattern. Cut back tree limbs hanging over the roof before winter hits. Over time the calcium chloride will clear a channel in the ice dam allowing the water on your roof to escape.

Snow melting systems take the form of heated wires that clip to shingles and the edge of your roof. Fortunately warmquest can provide solutions for managing snow and ice on flat roofs. In addition to the ice melting panels you can and probably should also install an automatic controller unit along with a temperature sensor and a moisture sensor. Clip a snow melting system to your roof to resist ice formation.