March is here, and allegedly that means the start of spring! However, if you look outside, for most of the White Castle Roofing service area it’s still looking like a tundra. There’s snow everywhere, you practically need a Tauntaun to get to work, and your roofline has a new addition: a series of icicles dangling from the eaves.
We’ve been preaching all winter about the importance of attic ventilation, and icicles are another side-effect of not having proper air circulation there. When the warm air in your attic heats the cold snow sitting just on the other side of the roof deck, that snow starts to melt, running down the roof, where the frigid outside temperatures re-freeze it. Often that creates ice dams at the bottom of your roof, and icicles hanging from your eaves.
It wasn’t all that long ago that we were watching A Christmas Story and hearing the sage wisdom from Ralphie’s mom — “those icicles have been known to kill people!” And in some cases, she’s right — icicles do have the capacity to cause damage to people and property, if they’re big enough or high enough. However, for most cases, it’s best (and safest) to just let Mother Nature take care of it, and let the sunshine melt everything. But if you’ve got some big ones that pose a threat to your family, visitors, or property, they may need to come down.
One simple way to do that is with a roof rake, which you can purchase at home improvement stores for around $50. This tool will help you pull down snow from the edge of your roof, and knock down some of those icicles while you’re at it. We definitely do NOT recommend climbing up on your icy roof to do it from above, or taking a hammer to your gutters to get the icicles off — you need to have the correct tool to do this task safely. Or, if you prefer, you can always give us a call or request a free estimate for us to come perform this service for you! We can also give you an assessment of your attic ventilation (and insulation) to help prevent the problem from happening again.