Rid your roof of icicles to protect your house from water damage

WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAW) - Sometimes you don’t even notice them, but other times they look like giant icy stakes hanging from your home. Icicles turn into ice dams, and the next thing you know you’re faced with a leaky ceiling.

It’s a fix you should leave to the professionals. Ice dam removals can last hours. Some companies have a machine to help resolve the issue like Service Master which uses an Artic Freeze Machine.

“It’s kind of like a power washer, but it doesn’t use power, it uses steam, " said Jake Mertzig, Service Master Restore project manager.

When ice dams are not treated at the right time, some people can experience a serious home renovation. “Whether it’s drying with larger scale dehumidifiers and big fans to get it dried out, or unfortunately if we have to, we sometimes have to tear out walls, flooring, and cabinetry if it’s too far damaged,” said Mertzig.

If you are thinking about removing the ice dams yourself, you may want to think again.

“I would trust that you know the professionals to do that because that’s a lot of pounds of ice coming down and if you get hit with that, you could be seriously injured or even killed,” Mertzig said.

Mertizig advises that people should be checking their roofs more than ever in the wintertime.