Posts Tagged ‘wayzata ice dam removal’


Ice Dam Removal on Fairview Hospital

Thursday, January 31st, 2013

This past week, we were called out to a Fairview Hospital to resolve an ongoing roof leak in their EPDM roof  or rubber roof. The roof leak, they suspected, was being caused by an massive ice build up on their flat roof. The area covered in ice was approximately 1200 square feet and ranged between 3-5″ thick. They had gotten another bid from acompetitor to remove the entire ice field for around $8,000.

Screen shot 2013-01-31 at 5.30.30 PM

Upon visiting the site, we quickly determined it was not necessary to remove the entire ice field in the area. Our experience as professional roofers and our use of thermal imaging quickly pointed us to a bad corner flashing detail as shown here. This area was completely covered by ice and was the main source of their leak.

Screen shot 2013-01-31 at 5.30.23 PM

The job was quite simple. We used our commercial steamers to cut through the ice and clear a channel from the area around the leak to the nearest roof drain. This allowed any melted snow/ice to run directly to the drain, instead of being dammed up and leaking into the hospital.

Fairview Hospital Ice Dam Steaming

We also removed a the large section of ice that surrounded the leak area to allow for proper repair of the roofing and flashing that had failed. Fairview was so happy with our work that they ended up having us remove rest of the ice in that surrounding area. In the end, our cost for all of the work was half that of our competitor’s estimate. We pride ourselves in doing business under the philosophy that we’re trying to build lasting, honest relationships. Not just trying to earn the quick buck. Our guess is that we will be called for all ice removal needs by the Fairview Hospital network going forward. A lot of ice removal companies in the Minneapolis area are allergic to honesty.  Perhaps Fairview has an ointment for that?


Popular Mechanics: Ice Dams

Thursday, January 3rd, 2013

An article in popular mechanics recently published about Ice Dam Prevention, and What to do if you have ice dam problems gets the basics:

To prevent an ice dam, don’t heat the roof, keep it cold. That way, the snow on the roof eventually dissipates without making large amounts of meltwater. The underside of the roof deck should not exceed 30 F. The best way to maintain low temperatures is by ensuring that there is adequate insulation and sealing gaps that let warm air pass into the attic from the house. The attic must also be ventilated, so that cold air is introduced into it and heated air escapes rapidly. Some remodeling contractors are under the impression that heat passing through the attic helps prevent ice dams, when just the opposite is true. Although excess heat moving from the attic through the roof rapidly melts snow, once the meltwater touches the cold eaves, it quickly freezes and forms an ice dam.

Read the full Popular Mechanics Ice Dam Article Here

…Then the article falls short at really looking at solutions to identify root problems (other then proper insulation) and determining solutions. Instead it looks at situations where there’s a furnace in the attic, and then turns it’s focus to cosmetically hiding symptoms of ice dams. Before you go this route, you really should determine what the underlying problem is, and fix it.

If you don’t feel confident in attempting to diagnose and fix ice dam problems yourself, it’s always a good idea to contact a contractor that has a Minnesota State Certified Energy Auditor on staff, has experience in insulation & ventilation installs, fixing roof leaks and making stuff look good.


How to Prevent Ice Dams

Thursday, December 20th, 2012

Our friend Reuben Saltzman at Structure Tech did a nice round-up of ice Dam prevention general knowledge, with examples he’s come across while inspecting homes in the Minnesota winter.

Minnesota got dumped on this weekend with nearly fifteen inches of snow in some areas.  With hardly any snow last winter, we almost forgot what a real snow storm looked like.   I haven’t heard about any concerns over ice dams yet, but I suspect they’ll be coming very soon.  The perfect conditions for ice dams are large amounts of snow and temperatures in the teens and twenties, which is what we’re expected to have this week.

Read the Full Post: How to Prevent Ice Dams

Ice Dam Removal, Ice Dam Prevention

Removing Ice Dams in Minnesota: We Serve Many Areas in the Minneapolis Metro

The Ice Dam company based out of Hopkins, Minnesota, about 5 miles west of Minneapolis. We've done gutter ice removal, roof ice removal and ice dam removal all over the Twin Cities, on new houses and old ones.

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