For those living in cold-weather regions, it is very important for you to take preventive measures to protect your house from the formation of ice dams. The condition of ice dams occurs when roof gutters are clogged with debris and snow. Therefore, when the water or melted snow goes from the roof towards the gutter, the combination of snow and the debris blocks the passage of water hence creating a big problem for homeowners.

Now with water has no way to run off, it will eventually return to the roof and accumulate underneath roof shingles. It will remain for as long as the freeze/thaw cycles remain active in your region water being stuck underneath the roof shingles it begins to soften the roof deck and causing the wood to rot. As a result, your roof becomes vulnerable and dangerous to your life and the lives of your family.

Along with that, it is expensive to fix the damage caused by the accumulation of water due to the formation of ice dams. However, preventing ice dams is easy and economical, and you can follow the below-mentioned procedures to prevent the development of ice dams.

1.  While installing a new roof, you should install a good quality Ice and water barrier on all the roof eaves, which should be around 3 feet high. If you have opted for a lower-pitched roof, then the height of the barrier raises to 6 feet. In most parts of the United States, you will find roofers mentioning one row of ice and water barrier in their bids for roofing projects.  However, you must check out the municipality Building Code before finalizing the height of Ice and water barrier.

2.  The next thing that you have to keep in mind is the size of gutters and downspouts, which should be large enough to handle the water from the roof. You can take the help of an experienced roofing contractor for modern roofing in Pocatello Idaho to determine the capacity of the gutter based on the size of your roof. Larger roots will require larger gutters whereas smaller roots will require smaller gutters. You can also opt for a custom gutter, but it will be a bit more expensive compared to the normal gutters you see in the market.

3.  You also need to ensure proper roof ventilation, which can be done by balancing the intake vents along with exhaust vents. There should be a perfect balance between cold air intake vents and hot air exhaust vents.  The cold air from the intake ones will push the warm air out of the attic space through exhaust vents. However, if the ventilation is not proper this process will not be able to carry out perfectly. Hence, the warmer will remain inside the attic space, which will warm the roof and melt the snow, but the cold here outside is going to freeze snow and create ice, this resulting in the continuation of freeze cycles.

Keep these points in mind while the roof of your house and you will not experience any of the issues mentioned in the post.