Can Ice Dams Form on Metal Roofs?

Test your metal roof’s mettle against these winter dangers

A metal roof of a house
Photo: Lex20 / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images
A metal roof of a house
Photo: Lex20 / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images
Highlights
  • Ice dams can cause severe damage to your roof, gutter system, and home’s interior.

  • Metal roofs offer protection against ice dams due to their construction and materials.

  • Snow stops installed on metal roofs may make ice dams more likely to form.

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Ice dams are never a welcome winter sight. These ice formations can damage your roof and your home, but a metal roof may help you avoid the problems ice dams can cause. Learn more about ice dams and why metal roofs offer some protection against these damaging winter hazards.

What Are Ice Dams?

Ice dams form when accumulated snow on a roof begins to melt, travels down to the roof’s edge, and then refreezes. A repeated freeze/thaw cycle causes ice dams, so they tend to happen when temperatures during the day rise above freezing or snow melts in direct sunlight.

Once the temperature drops back down after the sun goes down, the melted water forms a large chunk. Clogged gutters can cause ice dams—if melting snow has no way to drain off the roof because the gutters are full of ice, leaves, or other debris, it will refreeze before it’s directed off the roof via the drainage system.

3 common ice dam locations compared visually, including roof eaves, valleys on roofs, and skylights
Photos: Ratchat / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images, Lex20 / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images, Simon J Beer / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images

Signs of an ice dam include water on the interior of your home, usually on the underside of the roof or high up on walls, chunks of ice along the roof’s edge, one side or section of your roof with little to no snow but lots of snow lower on the roof, and icicles forming on the eaves or gutters.

Damage Ice Dams Can Cause

Close-up of formed ice dams on a roof
Photo: nikamata / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images

Not only can ice dams cause roof damage, they can damage the interior of your home as well. When ice dams are blocking melting snow from draining off the roof, the water is forced up underneath the shingles and can cause leaks, mold growth, and structural instability.

Hiring a local roof cleaning company to remove accumulated snow from traditional shingled roofs can help avoid ice dams, but having a metal roof may be enough to prevent these damaging formations.

"Your attic should be similar temperature to outside, which eliminates the melting on the roof which then will eliminate the ice problems. Keeping your attic cold through insulation on the attic floor and properly functioning ventilation is the solution."

— Todd Miller, President of Isaiah Industries, Piqua, OH

How Metal Roofs Help Avoid Ice Dams

Since metal roofs are constructed of large panels or sheets, there are fewer places for water to enter underneath the roofing material than shingles. Metal roofs also have fewer ridges than shingled roofs, and those ridges tend to run vertically rather than horizontally. These ridges act as channels directing water flow down and off the roof rather than allowing it to travel across the roof laterally, keeping it on the roof's surface longer.

Metal roofs are so efficient at preventing snow buildup that many have features known as snow stops installed to prevent snow and ice from sliding off the roof onto walkways or passers-by. Ice dams can form at snow stops, so it’s important to monitor them and keep them clear or hire a pro to clear ice dams that may form before they can cause damage.

Ways to Avoid Ice Dams on Metal Roofs

Although metal roofs are efficient when it comes to preventing ice dams, there are a few steps you can take to reduce the chances even further. A little bit of prevention can help save you from facing the cost of removing ice dams. Some ways to avoid ice dams include:

  • Insulating the attic or space directly under the roof to prevent inconsistent temperatures

  • Brushing snow off the roof after heavy snowfall

  • Installing roof heat cables to keep gutters clear of ice

  • Cleaning gutters thoroughly in the late fall to remove leaves and debris.

Frequently Asked Questions

If not removed, ice dams can damage your gutters, roof, and home’s interior. The weight of these heavy ice formations can break gutters and downspouts. Water intrusion can happen underneath ice dams when there’s no way for melting snow to drain off the roof, and roof sheathing, walls, ceilings, and attic spaces can suffer water damage.

Yes, proper insulation in your attic or ceiling can help prevent ice dams. When attic spaces are too warm, they cause the snow on the roof over those areas to melt more quickly than the rest of the roof and then travel downward to a colder section of the roof where they refreeze. If less heat is allowed to escape from underneath the roof, snow will melt at a more consistent rate, making ice dams less likely.

Using an ice and water shield underlayment under a metal roof is a good way to protect the roof and your home from damage in colder climates that see a lot of winter weather. Traditional underlayment isn’t effective underneath a metal roof, though, so be sure to install one specifically made for metal roofs to get the best protection.

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