Can an Ice Dam on a Home Reoccur?

Ice dams usually recur in precisely the same place on your roof as they first occurred if the same climatic conditions happen again. Ice dams are caused by heat escaping from your roof melting snow. The water from the melted snow refreezes when it contacts a colder section of your roof or an area with significant snow buildup, resulting in an ice dam. There are several strategies you can use to reduce the likelihood of ice dams.

Insulation
Heat tape
Roof rake

Instructions

- 1
  Insulate your attic floor to keep your roof cool to minimize snow melting. Place rigid insulation where the roof meets the edges of the attic rather than piling loose insulation in the corners. Make sure the outside edges of your roof stay slightly warmer than the central areas.
- 2
  Ventilate your attic to avoid buildup of warm, moist air. If you have an overhanging roof, a type of roof particularly prone to ice dams, you need a ridge vent and soffit vents.
- 3
  Place strips of heat cables perpendicular to the edges of the roof to create channels for melted snow. Turn heat cables on if ice dams start to form; turn them off when not needed.
- 4
  Brush snow off your roof with a roof rake. Because snow is an excellent insulator, if you allow more than a few inches to pile up, the snow traps the heat from your attic, and the snow starts to melt and refreeze, leading to ice dams. Be careful not to stand in the path of falling snow.

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