It’s wintertime in Massachusetts, and unfortunately for homeowners, that means there is a lot of home maintenance to be done! While of course you will need to ensure your doors and windows are sealed properly, and make sure your pipes don’t freeze, there is one area that many homeowners tend to overlook; the roof. While it is easy to assume your roof will be safe, after all, it’s built to withstand the elements, the fact of the matter is that if left alone, there are a number of issues that can be caused by excess snow on your roofing system. Interested in learning more? Let’s discuss the importance of removing snow & ice from your roof below!
Snow On The Roof
To begin, let’s discuss the dangers of excess snow. As most New Englanders know, there are a couple of different kinds of snow. There is the fluffy, airy snow that falls in that chilly 20-degree weather, and then there is the heavy, water-logged, dense snow that falls or forms when the temperate begins to float into the mid-30s. What was once easy to shovel off of the sidewalks suddenly becomes much more difficult. Now just imagine this extra weight on your roof. While your roof is built to withstand the weight of your shingles, when the extra weight of snow is involved, it can suddenly put the integrity of the system in jeopardy. Too much extra weight can cause damage to your roof deck, and put your roof in danger of collapsing and flooding your home. This is why it is always a good idea to shovel off excess snow.
However, that’s not the only reason you might want to consider removing snow. When temperatures fluctuate, either from your home’s heat loss or just a warm, sunny day in the middle of winter, snow has a chance to unfreeze and refreeze which can lead to other issues.
The Dangers of Ice
For many Massachusetts homeowners, their winter nightmare is ice dams. Damaging, & often costly, ice dams are a nuisance that many homeowners dread dealing with. Ice dams generally form due to the heat escaping through your attic. This causes the snow on your shingles to be heated, eventually melting it and allowing it to run down your roof. When it reaches your gutter system, the snow refreezes, and creates an “ice dam.” As this process repeats throughout the winter, you’re eventually left with massive blocks of ice in your gutters that hold water on your shingles, where it remains heated by your attic, so rather than refreezing, it seeps into your roof deck and causes rot damage. This means that keeping your gutters free of ice is essential. Generally ice dams can be dealt with in one of two ways; prevention or treatment. Prevention involves properly ventilating your attic and shoveling excess snow off of your roof so there isn’t a chance for it to melt. Treatment generally involves using ice melt to clean off the build-up, although there are more extreme methods for particularly excessive ice dams.
Contact Us Today
If you need assistance removing snow or ice from your roof this winter, our team at Three Sons Window & Door is ready to assist! You can reach out to our team today by calling us at (781) 899-6353 or by filling out our team’s online contact form! Reach out today for more information about our services!