Watch for ice dams as temperatures warm up

WEST ALLIS (CBS 58) -- The weather warm up could cause some issues for your home. 

Ice dams tend to form in weather like we've seen. 

"Usually the perfect circumstances are above freezing during the day and below freezing at night, but there’s another circumstance where ice dams really prevail and cause problems, and that’s when it’s frigid cold outside," said Joe Palumbo, owner of Ice Dam Guys.

"People naturally turn the heat up in their house and even if they don’t the furnace is working harder to keep the house warmer and the hot air is pumping up into the attic and as that attic warms up, it warms your roof deck which warms your shingles, which helps the snow and as that water is trickling down your warm roof it hits the overhang where there’s no heated living space so it’s colder and that’s why it freezes."

The ride of ice freezes and forms on the overhang of your home from the snow melting. 

"It’s colder there and freezes and the ice forms a dam and the water can no longer get off so it pools, and shingles are not designed for pooling water and it gets under the shingles and drips into your home," said Palumbo. 

Palumbo suggests raking off the snow from your roof to help prevent water from getting into your home. 

"The absolute best thing that a homeowner can do is easy, get the snow off your roof. The safest way to do that is to purchase a roof rake, on most homes that are a story and a half, sometimes two stories you can reach up there stay safely on the ground, and rake that snow off the roof as far as you can reach. The most important place to get the snow off is the overhang itself."

There are a number of companies that remove ice dams. 

"It’s an expensive service, and you know signs to watch for, an ice dam by itself is usually not dangerous and isn’t harmful for your home, by itself, once it’s big enough and it’s leaking, then you have problems," Palumbo said.