Ice dams in gutters - concerns?

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AndyTN

AndyTN

Bronze Supporter
Mar 27, 2019
463
Memphis
Pool Size
26000
Surface
Vinyl
Anyone up north have experience with ice dams in gutters and how to treat them? My gutter icicles are growing with the minor amount of heat from the attic melting the bottom layer of ice/snow on my roof. None of the other houses around me appear to have any major icicles and I am getting concerned about the weight tearing off the gutters or water getting into my roof as a leak.

The gutter out back has icicles about 2 feet long and the gutter out front has smaller icicles but I can see some small ones forming behind the gutter on both sides. I have not inspected the entire house yet but I do not see any icicles coming from the soffits or from inside the wood.

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Usually it happens from gutters that weren’t cleaned after the fall, but with the wild storms you guys just had, snow could have easily melted into slush and froze and there wouldn’t have been anything you could do about it.

The weight is definitely an issue. If the wood holding the gutters up is healthy, it’s usually no problem, but most people have many years on theirs. You’ll find out soon enough if there were any weak spots.

You can whack the icicles off but do so only at a distance with a long pole. Maybe even the pool vac pole. You don’t want to be even close to where they will fall because they don’t always fall straight down and are basically ice swords. Yours aren’t particularly heavy but they can be many feet and 50 lbs each. Yours are still plenty pointy/sharp tho, so be cautious.
 
I am from Alaska. It’s common there with homes that don’t have great insulation. We have water damage in our garage currently from water damming up. There isn’t anything to do other than wait for it to melt and hopefully this will never happen again here For a long time.
 

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Not much you can do at this point.

Watch out for water coming over the back of the gutters and into the siding.

Do you have gutter guards or foam in your gutters to keep leaves out?
 
MrsChz said:
It’s common there with homes that don’t have great insulation.
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That is kind of what I was thinking. I went into the attic to check on something while it was 5 degrees outside and I was very surprised how it was not ridiculously cold up there. I've had on my list for about 3 years to add more attic insulation so this will be my next project.
 
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I went over to my parents house today to pick up my son and saw their gutter glacier and didn't feel so bad. There must be 5 inches of ice built up above their gutter.

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ajw22 said:
Do you have gutter guards or foam in your gutters to keep leaves out?
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The previous owners put some sort of wire mesh "gutter guards" over top and I think the ice just froze to them causing a buildup when it was really cold. Once my poorly insulated attic started heating up the snow it became an easy build up for ice.
 
AndyTN said:
The previous owners put some sort of wire mesh "gutter guards" over top and I think the ice just froze to them causing a buildup when it was really cold. Once my poorly insulated attic started heating up the snow it became an easy build up for ice.
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Yup, gutter guards cause those type of ice dams and that is why you have it and the neighbors don't.

If you are going to keep the gutter guards then run some heat tape along the gutter that you can plug in during future freezing conditions.
 
Get yourself some ice melt and pantyhose, preferably knee highs. Load up some ice melt, tie the stocking off, and toss it up there. You want it to be at the top of the ice dam or crossing it, so that it can melt a channel through for water to escape and drain away.
 

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Hey all !! It dawned on me that the solid block of ice in your gutters is probably a real good gague of what your hidden pool plumbing looks like. Specifically the parts just underground that froze and won't get much benefit from the warmer temps and the sun. If the gutters still have a chunk of ice, the plumbing probably still does too. The gutters will melt probably first being in the sun and with heat coming off/from the house.
 
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