What Can an Ice Storm do to Your Roof?

4/19/2021 (Permalink)

This illustration shows potential damage an ice dam can create.

In the spring, your thoughts turn to gardening, spending more time outside, spring cleaning, and repairing any damage to your home from ice storms. Okay, maybe that last one isn’t exactly on your list, but it should be if your house sustained any storm damage from winter storms and you haven’t yet made those repairs. 

Ice storms can affect your home in a myriad of ways, including causing weak, old tree branches to snap off, hitting a power line or your house itself. If a power line that’s connected to your house comes down, the ice storm repair involves working with your power company to get your power restored. 

If the ice storm caused a tree branch to hit your roof, there are two scenarios. If the tree branch is resting on your roof and hasn’t broken through, the resulting ice storm repair entails getting the tree off your roof without any damage. If your roof has been damaged by the downed tree branch, you need to have it repaired. 

Your roof can also be damaged by ice dams during an ice storm. Accumulated snow that’s left on the roof and doesn’t have a chance to melt can impact older roofs and ones with structural issues, potentially causing part of the roof to cave in. If you see a lot of snow on your roof that you can’t remove with a roof rake, or hear creaking noises from the roof when there’s a lot of snow on it, reach out to us for a structural assessment. Ice dams can also be created and cause your gutters to pull from your house, or damage to your siding. 

Does your roof have signs of ice storm damage? Contact the Massachusetts storm damage restoration experts at SERVPRO of Danvers / Ipswich for a storm damage assessment as well as a remediation plan for water damage restoration.