Rock Salt To Melt Ice Dams On Roof

The calcium chloride will eventually melt through the snow and ice and create a channel for water to flow down into the gutters or off the roof.

Rock salt to melt ice dams on roof.

However rock salt is a form of sodium chloride which corrodes metal including the metal nails holding your shingles in place. They work effectively in temperatures down to 25 f. Sodium chloride or rock salt is highly corrosive. Removing the snow removes the water that forms ice.

Next up a list of long term fixes that will help you get rid of your ice dams for good. While safely on the ground toss a roofmelt tablet onto the roof. Pantyhose a quick fix to melt ice dams this article. It should be no surprise then that it is the first thing many people think of to remove ice dams.

It also does not work well below 20 degrees fahrenheit. A good trough maker is a tube of cloth a leg from an old pair of panty hose works well. The tablets are specially formulated with calcium chloride so they won t harm your exterior like products such as rock salt which could rust your gutters and damage shingles. Emphasis on the as possible part.

It will damage paint metals and plants beneath the eave and wherever the salty water drains. Removing snow from your roof. Do not use rock salt. A do not put salt on your roof.

Rock salt can also leave permanent stains on your roof and walls. Permanent fixes for ice dams illustration by yuko shimizu. But if you ve let your ice dam fester for so long that you can t even get a credible ice dam company to help you because they re booked solid salt may help you emerge from your diy ice dam removal adventure as unscathed as possible. A word of caution.

Ask this old house general contractor tom silva explains the best ways to keep your roof and gutters free from those dreaded ice dams. It will damage the roofing siding gutters and downspouts and the poisonous runoff will kill foundation plants. Do not substitute rock salt for calcium chloride as rock salt can damage shingles and kill bushes and foliage beneath. Melt troughs through the ice dam with calcium chloride ice melter.

Preventing ice dam problems. Again for the most part you don t want to throw any type of ice melt product on your roof. Make sure the ice melt product you buy contains only. Why you have them why you don t want them.

See below for a shopp. The tablets help prevent roof damage by melting through ice dams and allowing water to drain safely.