Look out for dangerous ice dams!

Those icicles hanging from your house may look beautiful, but you'll want to be on the look out for ice dams that can form on the edge of the roofline. 

Ice dams are formed when attic heat warms the roof and melts the snow. Melted snow flows to the edge of the roof, where it freezes again.  As snow continues to melt, water can accumulate behind the layer of ice that forms and can back up underneath roof shingles and leak into the attic space. 

This Old House compiled some great steps you can take to protect your roof, and the rest of your home, and the most important steps include ensuring that your roof is properly insulated and ventilated. This is because the number one problem is undesirable attic heat. Too little insulation, too little ventilation, or a combination of the two create the conditions for ice dams.

Learn more in this resourceful article from This Old House:  
How to Get Rid of Ice Dams

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