Preventing Ice dams on your Church’s roof.

Christmas is a week away! Do you remember the below 0 weather last Christmas? I do and I clearly remember all of the calls the agency received 2 weeks later when the weather warmed up and Churches started calling us that water was dripping thru the ceiling of the church. You still have time to take action and create a plan to prevent ice dams.

An ice dam is a ridge of ice that forms at the edge of a roof and prevents melting snow (water) from draining off the roof. Icicles occur when part of your roof warms to above 32 degrees F, warm enough to melt the snow, while the roof edge remains below freezing. Preventing these two potentially damaging issues are interrelated.

The major cause of ice dams and icicles is escaping heat through the roof. Keeping the entire roof, the same temperature as the eaves will help mitigate ice dams. This starts with proper ventilation which is done by using a ridge vent paired with continuous soffit vents circulating cold air under the entire roof. Both ridge and soffit vents should have the same size openings and provide at least one square foot of opening for every 300 square feet of attic floor. The next step should be to ensure the attic floor is properly insulated to keep the heat from reaching the attic itself.

There are items that can be addressed from the interior of your Church which you may be able to have volunteers complete. They include caulking around all vent pipes and electrical cables with a fire stop sealant. Make certain you ensure all of the building’s exhaust fans are sealed off and any doors or hatches to the attic are properly closed and insulated to stop heat from entering the attic.

If your Church does have interior or exterior damage caused by ice dams or icicles, a properly created insurance program can protect you. So, before you renew your Church’s insurance, call the Trusted Choice agents at Richey-Barrett Insurance.