After every winter, many homeowners have to repair water damage caused by ice damming by snow on roofs and in gutters because they failed to do regular effective ventilation system maintenance.

Ice Dam on a poorly Ventilated roof

The ideal method is for roof ventilation to pull air through the soffit vents and exhaust it through an individual roof or continuous ridge vent.

We recommend a clear space of least 2 inches above your ceiling insulation to allow the moisture that moves through your attic insulation to exhaust through roof ridge vents.

Heat travels by convection, conduction, and radiation. Because energy costs a lot of money it’s important to prevent the warm air from escaping through walls, ceilings, and roof. Insulation and vapor barriers trap the heat, or slow its flow.

During winter months we heat our homes. Our interior heat rises and permeates through the ceiling vapor barrier and attic insulation and causes ice and snow to melt resulting in possible water leakage. Water from the melting is trapped creating an “ice dam” on the roof, gutters and downspouts.

Removing this ice and snow you may cause damage to the roof and is dangerous.  An alternative emergency method to avoid damage if the interior heat problem can’t be corrected is to create water runoffs through the ice and snow. Doing this allows the water to flow off the roof.

Our roofs take quite a beating during their lifetime. Because they are fully exposed, roofs catch the brunt of weather’s worst.

A roof system is composed of several elements that work together to provide three basic, essential functions for your home – shelter, drainage, and ventilation.

The roof covering and the flashing are designed to shed water, directing it into gutters and downspouts that channel it away from the foundation. Air intake and exhaust vents keep fresh air circulating below the roof sheathing, preventing moisture build-up as well as heat build-up.