How to Get an Ice Dam off a Second Story Roof
- 1). Cut the legs off a pair of pantyhose.
- 2). Fill each leg with de-icing salt. Many types are available at home and garden centers. Tim Carter of Ask the Builder recommends using magnesium sulfate de-icing salt because it is relatively safe to use around gutters and over any plants that may be living below your roofline.
- 3). Place the de-icing tube over the ice dam so that it hangs perpendicular to the ice dam and hangs over each side of the dam by at least one inch. The pantyhose tube will create a channel in the dam that will allow meltwater through.
- 4). Place more de-icing tubes in the same fashion so that you create channels at roughly 3-foot intervals.
- 5). Consult a contractor to discover the cause of the ice dam. The de-icing tubes will prevent damage to your roof from backed-up water, but it will not get rid of the ice dam. To do that, you must stop the melting ice. In many cases, the problem is poor insulation in the top floor of the home. The escaping heat melts the snow on the roof and causes it to run down and refreeze when it hits the eaves of the roof. Until you identify and fix the cause of the problem, the ice dam will continue to form.
