Stopping Ice Dams with Attic Ventilation

Depending on how well your roof has fared in the past winters of Rockville, you may or may not be familiar with “ice dams”. The barriers of ice develop low on roofs, often around the gutters, and prevent snow melt and water from properly draining. With nowhere else to go, water finds its way into less convenient and more destructive areas, often ending its journey by dripping onto the floor inside your home.

Even if you’re intimately familiar with ice dams, you may not have learned that they are often the result of improper attic ventilation. Here’s why. When the air is trapped unevenly under your attic roof, warm and cold spots form in different areas of it. Heat from within may begin to melt snow near the top of the roof. The melted snow then trickles down and freezes again near the bottom. After days, weeks, and months of cold weather, an ice dam is formed.

Needless to say, if this past winter gave you ice dam problems, you might want to put attic ventilation at the top of your list this summer. It’s not just the heat of your roof that needs to be regulated, though. A well-ventilated attic allows all of the moisture your family generates escape from your home without allowing it to condense into water, drip, or soak into the wood in your home.

It may not seem like you generate all that much water, but even breathing contributes a significant amount of moisture to the inside of your home. That moisture usually gravitates towards the colder attic air, where it has an opportunity to condense into water and linger. Proper attic ventilation should push the moisture out before it has a chance to cause a problem.

Trapped moisture can lead to mold or mildew, watermarks, and rusted metal. These are all important things to watch out for. Not only are they signs that your home isn’t ventilating, they also could point to more serious air quality problems in your home.

Without proper ventilation, your attic stands no chance against the elements—especially when next winter rolls around. To make sure all the moisture is making its way out - from humidifiers, bathing, doing dishes, and even breathing – give Central Roofing, Siding, & Windows Co. a call today.