How Ice Dams Cause Damage to Your Home

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We’ve had quite the winter so far here in Coastal Maine and the Portland area. With a constant fluctuation in temperatures, many homeowners are experiencing icicles, known as ice dams, on their gutters. Ice dams can not only be difficult to remove, but unfortunately, they can cause severe damage to your home as well. 

At Evergreen Home Performance, we understand how frustrating it can be to deal with ice dams, especially on top of all the other winter maintenance your home needs. Luckily, we can solve the issue with our comprehensive insulation and air sealing services. 

What Causes Ice Dams?

Ice dams occur when heat escapes from your attic and prematurely melts snow that has accumulated on your roof. As the snow melt flows to the eaves, or edges of your roof, it will then refreeze and create a blockage that prevents water from draining properly from your gutters. 

How Ice Dams Lead to Damage

When ice dams accumulate on your drip edge or gutters, the water from snowmelt will have nowhere left to go and can back up underneath your roofing and leak inside your home. This can lead to numerous problems for your home health and structure, such as:

  • Roof damage & leaks

  • Broken gutters

  • Wet & damaged insulation

  • Moisture & mold growth

  • Sagged ceilings

  • Wood rot 

  • Stained drywall or plaster

  • Peeling paint

The icicles on your gutters can also cause damage to HVAC equipment or parked cars outside of your home and even pose a fall risk to people walking by.  

Ice Dam Prevention with Air Sealing & Insulation

Removing ice dams after they have formed can be both difficult and dangerous. Luckily, Evergreen Home Performance can help you prevent ice dams at the source with air sealing and attic insulation. Air sealing helps to stop warm air from escaping your home while insulation helps prevent heat transfer. 

These two essential services work together to stop the snow from unevenly melting on your roof and come with many whole-home benefits, including:

  • Lower heating & cooling costs

  • More consistent temperatures

  • Improved indoor air quality

  • No more hot attics in the summer 

Find Reliable Ice Dam Solutions with Evergreen Home Performance

To find the most accurate and reliable ice dam solutions for your home, we recommend getting started with a free consult or an energy audit. This crucial step allows our team to pinpoint exactly where attic insulation and air sealing is needed to prevent heat from escaping out your roof and causing ice dams to form. Insulation and air sealing are also eligible for several incentives in Coastal Maine and Portland, like rebates from Efficiency Maine.

Evergreen Home Performance has been helping homeowners in our community with their home efficiency needs for nearly 20 years. We have extensive knowledge of building science principles that aid our team to find the right insulation type for your home’s specific needs and make sure it’s installed correctly. Don’t just deal with ice dams every winter, solve them for good with Evergreen Home Performance.

Get started with ice dam prevention for your home today. Call 207-594-2244 or contact us online to get started.

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I cannot say enough great things about working with Evergreen Home Performance. Everything including the initial consultation, the fabulous work crew, the office support and the final resolution was handled in a caring and professional manner. My only regret is that I did not know about them earlier. I enthusiastically recommend Evergreen to anyone with concerns about home energy use.

Darlene R

Bath

Several years ago Brian Robinson evaluated the crawl space at my summer home on Islesboro where I knew moisture was becoming a problem. I had done quite a bit of work in the space many years prior with mixed results. When Brian offered some suggestions, they were ideas that incorporated work previously done, and would be a relatively low cost effort to improve the situation. He offered this advice over several phone conversations of some length, informally, and at no charge.

Cliff R.

Islesboro

From beginning to end – that is from the moment Justin McEdward stepped into our home to assess our energy conservation needs until the crew left – the Evergreen Home Performance process went absolutely smoothly. Justin made a thorough inspection and took pictures with an infrared camera. His proposal described the scope of work in detail, and he explained what we could expect the proposed work to accomplish. Our proposal was forthcoming within a couple of days, and Justin was available to discuss it and answer questions.

Adrienne Harkavy

Evergreen was so helpful in securing us Efficiency Maine funding for a big attic insulation project early this winter. They did all of the paperwork, and totally guided us through a vermiculite removal process that included a payment from a trust for the procedure. I could instantly feel the second floor being so much warmer than before. The boiler does not kick on nearly as frequently since they completed the job. It was worth every penny! Brian Robinson was so thorough throughout the whole process including a full walk through after the job had been completed.

Todd W.

Camden

Nothing but good things to say. The guys that came and did the actual work were extremely nice and did a great job. The energy audit was thorough and I was presented with multiple improvement options, I was even given ideas for improvement that Evergreen didn't offer. I never felt like I was being "sold".

Ryan Adams

I never leave reviews, but had a great experience with Evergreen and wanted to spread the word! In short, we worked with them to insulate our roof this winter and have noticed surprising immediate results. The constant ice dams I have wrestled with are completely gone, and the home is noticeably more comfortable. It's a little too early to tell if our oil bill is going to reduce, but I imagine we will see an impact there as well.

Joel W.

Portland

Really great experience from start to finish with Evergreen. They helped us prioritize what needed to be completed first, and has made a significant difference in our hearing costs already. Plus they were really friendly and considerate to work with!

Amy W.

Kennebunk

I was extremely pleased with the professionalism and quality of service that I received from the Evergreen team. I met Richard to discuss options for insulation. I knew immediately that I wanted to do business with them because he did not try to over-sell extra services that I did not need. Dave was the project manager. He was not only kind, but very respectful of my home. I would highly recommend this company.

Darlyann M

Bath

Evergreen did a fantastic job replacing 28 windows in our house. They were friendly, courteous, and very detail oriented. Brian did a great job planning, estimating and executing the project. Our energy use has dropped significantly since the work was done.

Alex B.

Kittery

Greetings one and all! I am writing to express my gratitude to all involved in my insulation project.  From start to finish, I appreciate the universal theme which was maintained by each and every one of you, to ensure that my home was insulated and protected from freezing pipes as if it was your home. Andrea, thanks for helping me navigate my way to the project. Nate, thanks for the thorough initial assessment and the time you took to explain this project to me, step by step. Brian, thanks for setting up my project - so happy

Michele

Great company. Very professional and thorough. They take the time to explain everything and offer options to fit your budget. Wonderful experience from start to finish.

Bonnie Eustace

The Evergreen Team did a fabulous job and was very tuned and responsive to the particular needs we had. The job was done right on budget and we are thrilled with the improved warmth and energy efficiency.

Ira M.

Rockland

The crew members from Evergreen Home Performance each made sure to greet us every day, while maintaining their distance in this time of the pandemic. Their work took a total of nine days, spread over three weeks. Even though they were working in multiple rooms of our house, as well as the basement and attic, they were unobtrusive and always cleaned up after themselves every day. The on-sight manager kept us informed of their daily schedule so we'd know which parts of the house they'd be working on.

Bob & Sue

Whitefield

Evergreen has insulated two homes that we've owned now and both times we experienced exceptional service and craftsmanship. Our rep, Justin, went above and beyond answering questions and the installation team was attentive to every detail, including pulling out old poorly installed insulation and redoing a bathroom fan that wasn't up to current code. They also left the place spotless every day! Our home is already so much warmer this fall and we are looking forward to using less oil this winter.

Eva G.

Falmouth

First we have Evergreen do a BIG project worth about $20K (windows, basement, insulate & rebuild an entire wall, a door, attics, and air sealing). They were so great we had them come back later when we decided we did want to do our other door. They are professional and do great work. They take care of your home and are trustworthy, and on top of all that friendly! I highly recommend you call them!

Garreth C Debiegun

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Portland Buy Local
Efficiency Maine
EPA Lead-Safe Certified
Building Performance Association
BPI Certified

190 Riverside St, #2A,
Portland, ME 04103

315 Main Street, #205,
Rockland, ME 04841

207-358-3706

info@evergreenyourhome.com