Rock Salt To Melt Ice Dams On Roof

The tablets help prevent roof damage by melting through ice dams and allowing water to drain safely.

Rock salt to melt ice dams on roof. Use roof melt tablets to reduce snow and ice buildup that occurs on your roof typically on the eaves and in gutters. 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. Again for the most part you don t want to throw any type of ice melt product on your roof. However rock salt is a form of sodium chloride which corrodes metal including the metal nails holding your shingles in place.

Rock salt can also leave permanent stains on your roof and walls. A good trough maker is a tube of cloth a leg from an old pair of panty hose works well. While safely on the ground toss a roofmelt tablet onto the roof. It will damage the roofing siding gutters and downspouts and the poisonous runoff will kill foundation plants.

A word of caution. It also does not work well below 20 degrees fahrenheit. Removing the snow removes the water that forms ice. Sodium chloride or rock salt is highly corrosive.

A do not put salt on your roof. It should be no surprise then that it is the first thing many people think of to remove ice dams. Ask this old house general contractor tom silva explains the best ways to keep your roof and gutters free from those dreaded ice dams. They work effectively in temperatures down to 25 f.

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. 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. It will damage paint metals and plants beneath the eave and wherever the salty water drains. Do not substitute rock salt for calcium chloride as rock salt can damage shingles and kill bushes and foliage beneath.

Permanent fixes for ice dams illustration by yuko shimizu. Do not use rock salt. Removing snow from your roof. Make sure the ice melt product you buy contains only.

Emphasis on the as possible part. See below for a shopp. Why you have them why you don t want them. Preventing ice dam problems.

Melt troughs through the ice dam with calcium chloride ice melter. Pantyhose a quick fix to melt ice dams this article.