CRAFTON, Pa. \u2014 Roofers have been busy over the last few weeks working on homes with ice dams blocking their gutters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been chaos,\u201d Prescott Roofing owner Chris Schmider said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been averaging about 100 phone calls a day and countless emails.\u201d<\/p>\n
A homeowner in Crafton, who wanted to remain anonymous, was one of those callers last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife noticed that there was water coming from our exhaust fan in the bathroom,\u201d he told Channel 11\u2019s Andrew Havranek. \u201cWe both inspected the paint in the ceiling was starting to pour out water, and that\u2019s what led us to call the roofing company. I\u2019ve been living here for about 10 years, and I\u2019ve never had an issue. I\u2019ve never encountered an ice dam.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, it\u2019s the busiest winter for ice dam removal Schmider has had in 16 years.<\/p>\n
\u201c2010, actually, I think they called it \u2018Snowmageddon\u2019 back then, so that was the last time, and we were pretty much the same workload back then about two weeks afterwards,\u201d Schmider said.<\/p>\n
In 2010, Schmider and his crews used a hammer and chisel to clear ice dams. Seven years ago, he bought a machine that blasts water as hot as 290 degrees to quickly melt the ice enough to remove it from the gutter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sat on the shelf, and everybody thought it was a dumb purchase at the time, but this year I was able to help customers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ice dams can tear gutters off roofs and could cause damage inside homes and businesses. But there are ways you can try to prevent them from forming.<\/p>\n
First, if there\u2019s snowfall of at least six to eight inches, clearing the snow from your roof at least six feet from the gutter can prevent ice from forming there.<\/p>\n
Or you can install a heat cable. That\u2019s a de-icing cable that runs through your gutter to keep it warm enough for water to flow.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not going to stop this from happening,\u201d Schmider said. \u201cI know it\u2019s been 16 years since we\u2019ve had a winter like this, but it\u2019s bound to happen again. We live in Pittsburgh.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though it\u2019s going to be warmer over the next few days, roofers say if you\u2019re still dealing with ice dam issues, give them a call.<\/p>\n
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