5 Ways Ice Can Damage Your Customer’s Home and How You Can Help

By Gutter Helmet.

One of the most damaging forces in winter is ice. Ice can result from a freeze-thaw cycle after snowfall or from falling temperatures.

Your customers may end up with ice-coated trees, icicles hanging from their homes or even ice in their pipes. If they have looked into the cost of gutter guard systems and thought they were too expensive, the related ice damage can be even more expensive. Here are a few ways that ice can damage their homes.

1. Falling Tree Branches

If tree branches overhang the home and they become coated in ice, they may fall and cause roof damage, gutter damage, or even break windows or crack siding. Trimming back overhanging branches before an ice storm, can prevent this sort of damage much of the time.

2. Clogged Downspouts & Gutters

When water is trapped in the gutters and freezes, it expands. Depending on the material the gutter system is made from, it may crack, burst or even pull away from the home due to the extreme weight of the ice. The blocks of ice take a long time to melt, resulting in snow on the roof having nowhere to go – so it either goes over the edge of the gutters, forming icicles, or into the shingles, resulting in a roof leak.

3. Icicles

Icicles may look pretty, but they can do some serious damage. First, no matter what the gutters are made from or who installed them, they weren’t meant to handle the weight of icicles. These can pull the gutters away from the home. If the icicle breaks and falls, it can damage siding or break windows. Even worse, if it happens to fall on a person walking beneath, they’ll have another issue.

4. Water Damage

Eventually, ice will melt. Depending how fast it melts and whether the downspouts are full of ice as well, the water may not have anywhere to go. Water follows the path of least resistance. On some homes, that may mean between the gutters and fascia, resulting in damage. Another common place for water to go is up under the shingles. This results in damaged shingles and, potentially, a roof leak. If they’re lucky and the water runs over the edge of the gutters without forming icicles, they will end up with a lot of water in one place – which may lead to water in their crawl space, basement or beneath the foundation.

5. Ice Dams

When the gutters are clogged from leaves and debris, ice dams form. An ice dam may result in icicles or it may just back up onto the roof. This can lead to damaged shingles and too much weight at the roof’s edge. Because the ice dam often damages shingles, the roof is no longer protected and they will end up with water in their attic, potentially damaging insulation, wiring and anything else in there. Heated gutter systems can reduce ice dams.

Don’t let your customers risk ice or water damage due to clogged gutters. Becoming a Gutter Helmet dealer will allow you to offer Gutter Helmet® – along with Helmet Heat® heated gutter systems – to your customers.

Learn more about becoming a dealer.

Source: Gutter Helmet.