Father Winter can wreak havoc on your home, and one of the most often encountered problems is frozen gutters. When temperatures drop significantly, any standing water will freeze and remain that way until springtime. Should this happen to your gutters, they may detach from your home and even collapse.
Let’s delve into all the ways you can prevent the dreaded freeze and what to do if you have frozen gutters.
Why Do Gutters Freeze?
The answer to this simple yet crucial question is that a blockage is causing water to accumulate and eventually freeze in your gutters. This usually happens if your home is surrounded by trees that shed leaves, twigs, limbs, and fruit directly into your gutters, creating a clog. When water can’t flow through the gutters unobstructed due to debris, it will sit there and turn to ice once temperatures drop.
Another reason for gutter freezing is snow and sleet buildup in your gutters. If snow collects in your gutters and freezes before it has a chance to melt and flow through, it will clog your gutters and render them useless.
Ways Cold Weather Can Affect Your Gutters
Homeowners generally don’t think about their gutters until after a problem arises. If you haven’t dealt with gutter damage before, you may be surprised to learn just how much winter can really harm your gutters. Here are a few of the issues you should look out for.
Pressure on Your Gutters
The weight of snow and ice on your roof can put too much pressure on your gutters, causing them to crack or even completely collapse.
Downspout Damage
Downspouts direct rainwater and melted snow away from your home and into the ground, so keeping them clear is crucial. If ice is stuck inside, your entire gutter system will get backed up and damaged. Your downspouts can crack and burst, causing drainage issues and foundation damage.
Ice Buildup
After a bad winter storm, ice can build up in the gutters, preventing the flow of water to the downspouts and below into the ground. The runoff can form long icicles at the edge of your gutters, causing further obstruction to the gutter system and increasing the risk of moisture seeping into your home.
Ice Dams
Do you know those chunks of ice that form along the side of a roof? They’re called ice dams. They don’t pose a risk to your home until they melt into pools of water on your rooftop. This moisture eventually trickles underneath your shingles, into your roof structure, and appears as water damage inside your home.
Damage Due To Harsh Weather
Cold rain, high winds, freezing temperatures, hail, and snow are common in winter. Extreme weather can wreak havoc on your home and damage or loosen your gutter system.
What To Do When You Have Frozen Gutters
If you’re a homeowner, you know that dealing with frozen gutters is anything but fun. Thankfully, there are some helpful methods for thawing them out and restoring functionality.
The Aluminum Rake Approach
This method involves an aluminum rake extended to its full length and placed against the ice you’re trying to dislodge. Push the rake firmly forward to break through the ice and then pull it back to extract the ice. Repeat this step until all the ice has been removed. An aluminum rake won’t damage your gutters like some other metal tool would.
The Hot Water Approach
This method isn’t complicated by any means. After climbing a ladder, you’ll need to pour hot water along the entire length of your gutters, paying particular attention to the opening of the downspouts. However, this approach works best on smaller chunks of ice; for larger ones you’ll need a lot more hot water – which can be time-consuming.
The Stocking Approach
As the name might suggest, the stocking method involves filling stockings with calcium chloride, tying them off, and placing them over the frozen sections of your gutters until the ice has melted. Many homeowners find this approach more effective than using salt.
Note: Avoid sprinkling calcium chloride directly onto your gutters as it may damage them – especially if they’re made of aluminum. Furthermore, you may need large quantities of this compound to thaw out every gutter around your home.
The Professional Approach
If all else fails or you simply don’t have the time or inclination to thaw your gutters yourself, calling a professional team may be your best option. They have the necessary equipment and experience to safely remove the ice from your gutters. In addition, they can inspect your roof and gutters for cracks or leaks and advise you on how to prevent this problem.
The Dangers of Having Frozen Gutters
If you’re asking yourself how much damage frozen gutters can really do, the answer is a lot.
Structural Weakness
Gutters direct water flowing from your roof away from your home. If they’re frozen, they can’t keep your home dry, and you may need to deal with several unpleasant issues to keep your family safe and warm.
If your gutters are clogged or frozen, water will seek other ways to escape, likely trickling down the side of your house and gathering at the base. This, in turn, will lead to instability in the walls, cracks in the foundation, and moisture seeping into your home. Worst case scenario? You’ll be dealing with mold growth, pest infestations, and flooded rooms.
Gutter System Damage
The weight of frozen gutters can cause them to detach from your home and sag or collapse. What does this mean? Damage to the entire gutter system and costly repairs.
Roof Leaks
When gutters freeze, water backs onto the roof and forms ice dams. Eventually, it seeps under your shingles, through your ceiling, and becomes trapped under your insulation. If ice forms on top of the insulation, it will either sag or crumble away.
Falling Icicles
Temperatures fluctuate during the winter months, sometimes causing icicles to form on the gutters. If they fall, they may harm anyone unfortunate to pass under them.
What To Avoid When You Have Frozen Gutters
If you’re dealing with frozen gutters, you’re probably eager to fix the problem immediately. But watch out for certain pitfalls that might make the problem worse. These are some of the things you should avoid when removing ice from your gutters.
Using a Heat Source To Remove the Ice
While using a blow dryer or other heat sources to thaw out your gutters may be tempting, doing so can melt the plastic in your gutters and make them sag or collapse. Not to mention that this approach is a fire hazard.
The Hammer Method
Using a hammer to remove the ice is another method you should avoid. The force of the blow can crack your entire gutter system, causing leaks. Opt for a screwdriver or knife if you intend to use a tool.
Pouring Salt Directly on Your Gutters
Using salt to thaw out your gutters can be more damaging than you can imagine. Sprinkled directly on the ice, it can weaken any metal and cause rust and other problems. It also can stain your siding or bricks and kill any nearby plants.
How To Keep Your Gutters Safe Before and During Winter
There is no failsafe way to completely prevent your gutters from icing up, unless you invest in a heating panel system you can regularly run along the length of the structure. Most homeowners won’t be able to justify this investment, so the only other option is to perform thorough maintenance before winter arrives.
Here are some tips to avoid ice blockage in your gutters:
Keep Your Gutters Clean
Keeping your gutters free of leaves, debris, and other organic matter is one of the best ways to avoid frozen gutters come winter. Not completing this maintenance task will block the water flow, causing it to back up and freeze once temperatures drop enough. Try cleaning your gutters regularly to avoid frozen, sagging, or collapsed gutters.
Inspect Your Gutters
In addition to keeping your gutters free of debris, checking them for holes, rust, leaks, and gaps is another important step. A qualified professional can look for these issues and propose solutions. In case of repairs or replacement, they’ll suggest the best gutters for winter.
Make Sure Your Gutters Are Sloped
A proper slope for your gutters will allow water to flow correctly through your gutters and into your downspouts. If your gutters are too flat, the water will just sit there and freeze if it gets cold overnight. So, ensure your gutters have enough slope to avoid poor drainage.
Keep Your Roof Free of Snow
To prevent snow from accumulating in your gutters, remove it from your roof as quickly as possible. Use a designated roof rake to make this task easier. Winter maintenance tools can be purchased at any hardware or home improvement store.
Insulate Your Attic
Attic insulation is the perfect way to avoid ice dams. If your roof isn’t properly sealed and insulated, heat can escape, causing ice and snow to melt and travel down into your gutters, where it can once again turn into ice. Another added benefit is that you’ll substantially reduce your energy costs.
Purchase Gutter Guards
Gutter guards maintain your gutters free of leaves, debris, and twigs, reducing the risk of ice forming over time. Research the many types of gutter guards on the market and choose the one that best fits your home, budget, and climate.
FAQ About Frozen Gutters
We don’t recommend using chemical roof melt to deal with frozen gutters as it can cause leaks and other problems you’ll want to avoid. The corrosive chemicals it contains can damage any metal they touch.
Heated gutters are made by adding a heat cable or heat tapes to the structure. These elements, usually heat cables, are placed in the gutters’ bottom trough and along the downspouts’ interior all the way to the ground. This melts the snow and allows the water to travel freely to the ground.
While you can clean and maintain your own gutters, most of the maintenance involved is no DIY job. Working on ladders is dangerous in and of itself. Adding cold temperatures and ice to the mix will only make these tasks more difficult for the average homeowner. We recommend hiring a professional to regularly clean and inspect your gutter system.
Call a Pro
While the abovementioned methods are effective, you may not want to maintain your gutters. The truth is, calling a professional team is always the best way to prevent gutter damage. MyGutterGnome will connect you with a local pro who can assess your gutters, propose a solution, discuss budget options, and fix the problem before you know it.
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