DID YOU GUESS IT??

Icicles on a Home

This Can You Guess It?? photo appears in the November/December 2005 Nebline Newsletter.

While icicles hanging from the eaves of your home may be beautiful, they may also indicate ice dams. Ice dams form when snow piles high on the roof and the weather stays cold.

Under these conditions, snow touching the roof often melts. Water runs down the roof under the snow to the eaves. There, the roof temperature drops and the water refreezes. As this ice dam melts, water drips over the eaves and creates icicles.

As more snow melts, water flowing along the roof may back up behind the dam and leak into the attic or sidewalls of the home, causing damage.

Resources:

Icicles Can Mean Problems

Melting Snow Problems

Winter Roof Care - Ice Dams

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Lancaster County
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