Ice Sheets Falling From Roof

As the snow and ice melts the resulting water runs down the roof below the frozen mass.

Ice sheets falling from roof.

Security camera footage caught the appalling moment the frozen lump crashed. The spikes break up the snow ice sheet as it falls past them. Ice dams happen when ice melts trickles down the roof then freezes again. An ice dam is a barrier formed at the roof edge that prevents melt water from running off a roof.

If the ice comes down in one solid sheet it is heavy and can damage property and hurt people. The melted snow turns into water that starts running down the roof surface underneath the snow pack. The melted water flows under the snow and freezes as it reaches the unheated soffit area at the eaves thus creating an ice dam. Ice dams are a serious issue for homeowners and roofing professionals in cold climates or even where occasional snow may fall.

Solar panels can cause snow to slide off your roof in sheets. An ice dam develops when there is a temperature difference between different areas of a roof. Ice dams can form when as little as 1 or 2 inches of snow accumulates on a roof if the snowfall is followed by several days of sub freezing temperatures. Ice dams are formed by the continuous melting and freezing of snow due to heat escaping from the house or from a backup of frozen slush from the rain gutters.

Those little spikes are there to break up sheets of ice and snow that will be falling off the roof this season. Ice sheets falling from the roof in dallas texas. These dams can tear apart your home so limit them by keeping your roof clear of snow. Snow retention systems guide to roof snow guards snow fences their installation methods.

This article series illustrates types of snow guards or snow brakes or other snow retention devices used on metal rubber asphalt and slate roofs and we explain and illustrate in photographs just how and where these devices are attached to building roofs. If you see icicles hanging from your roof you most likely have an ice dam. As snow falls on asphalt composition shingles snow and ice will tend to accumulate and cling to the shingles rough surface. If dams are a serious threat to your roof the problem is usually due to poor ventilation.

This is the terrifying moment a woman is killed by a giant slab of ice falling from the roof of a luxury apartment block. It is less destructive if it gets broken up on the way down.