Ice dams on roofs; tips for winter home safety

FRANKLIN, Wis. - You might be glad to see some of that snow melting away, but the owner of a home improvement company said it could cost you.

Crews just wrapped up for the day at a home in Franklin. FOX6 News got a look inside their attic at the work being done to try and prevent ice dams before they form.

 "Lots of people are having ice damming issues," Wisconsin Home Improvement co-owner Steve Kooi said.

The freeze/thaw cycle keeps owner Kooi and his crew in attics all over the area.

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"The danger with that is the ice can back up underneath the shingle and now you’ve got water dripping down into the house, creating water damage," Kooi said.

Workers were sealing spots in the Franklin home where warm air could escape into the attic. Their goal is to keep the space the same temperatures as outside.

"The colder the attic is, the better chance you have of not melting the snow and creating the ice dam," he said.

He said icicles forming in the gutters of a home in Brookfield means attic temperatures are too high.

"Older homes tend to have a problem with inadequate ventilation and low levels of insulation that creates warmer attics," Kooi said.

To keep your roof free of ice dams, Kooi burgers homeowners to invest in a roof rake.

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"If you can get the snow off the roof, there’s nothing to melt," he said.

Unfortunately, Kooi said many homeowners don’t know there’s a problem up there until it’s too late.

"If you can pop your head up through the attic access panel, it can save thousands of dollars," he said.