Roof Ice Dam Skylight

Skylights are beautiful and they let natural light fill a room.

Roof ice dam skylight.

Skylights are dangerous for ice dam removal techs. An ice dam is a solid ridge of ice that forms along the edges of your roof. A skylight would disrupt that flow stopping the air flow below the. Skylights cause problems on the exterior as well.

A well ventilated roof needs clear air flow from the soffit to the roof peak. Snow starts to melt in certain areas of the roof which are warmer than others due to heat loss from the attic. They interfere with roof ventilation and contribute to ice dams. Ice dams and icicles form when the snow melts runs down your roof and refreezes near the edge.

Ice dams can occur around skylights because of the heat loss through the glass or acrylic area. Having a skylight makes your roof more prone to forming ice dams melted snow that has refrozen around the outer edges of the skylight which can prevent rainwater runoff or melt and create a. Stop ice dams with a cold roof. Ice dams form below skylights because the snow that sits on the warm glass melts and then re freezes on the cold roof surface below and bam ice dams below a skylight.

Heat loss around the skylight will melt snow on the roof immediately adjacent to the skylight. Heat cables can be installed to minimize ice formation and retention on roofs with them you can prevent a lot of damage to your roof that can result from the buildup of ice dams. This only occurs when part of your roof warms to above 32 degrees f warm enough to melt the snow while the roof edge remains below freezing. You need to tell us about any skylights.

Ice dams are the most common cause of leaks in the winter allow us to clear channels at the eaves of your roof. We can t always see them. Even if the light well and skylight curb are well insulated there s going to be considerable heat loss through the glazing whether it s glass or acrylic. If your home is ice dam resistant in those respects and you install flashing and ice and water shield around your skylight it should not be a problem area.

While it may seem like the perfect solution to ice dam formation heat cables come with quite a few disadvantages as well. If you have skylights it s important to know of those complications so that your ice dam removal job goes off without a hitch. Standard roof ventilation can be a real pain if there is a skylight in the way. Skylights are snazzy but they can complicate ice dam removal.

This scenario is often the result of a warm attic.