What are Ice Dams?
Think about it. An asphalt shingle roof is designed to last on average 25-30 years. During this period of time residents in the Greater Louisville area should expect to see 3-4 events that could lead to significant ice dams. It only takes one to cause major damage to your home.
How Much Does It Cost?
Most houses can have Ice and Water Shield installed for less than $1000 in additional cost to their roof replacement. Most insurance deductibles are $1000 or more. It’s up to you to determine if you should take the precaution of paying for protection in the event of a severe ice or snow storm, but one way or another, when it comes, you’re going to pay for it.
What is an Ice Dam Exactly?
Ice dams occur infrequently in the Greater Louisville area, but when they do occur with severe winter weather, it can be disastrous. As the snow and ice fall on the roofs of buildings and begin to melt, it travels down the roofs of structures to gutters or drains and can refreeze over the unheated/uninsulated portions of the roof. This causes a buildup of snow and ice, usually along the eaves.
Buildup causes a “damming” effect and meltwater can back up and cause water leakage into the roof and consequent damage to the structure. Ice dams frequently occur in roof valleys that are shaded, and over the eaves of homes because they are colder areas of the roof.
Parts of the country that receive greater amounts of annual ice and snowfall typically have roofs that are specially designed for the prevention of ice dams or special protection to prevent the intrusion of water into moisture-prone components of the roof. Ice and Water Shield is a material used specifically for protecting the home from this problem.
What are the Chances That Ice and Water Shield Will Make a Difference for my Home?
Think about it. An asphalt shingle roof is designed to last on average 25-30 years. During this period of time residents in the Greater Louisville area should expect to see 3-4 events that could lead to significant ice dams. It only takes one to cause major damage to your home.
Why Ice and Water Shield is Often Not Installed
The reason/s why not can vary, but the result is the same . . . a leaking roof during heavy snow and ice accumulations. The roof wasn’t “shielded” by a product that is designed to keep that from happening when faced with costly, albeit infrequent, weather events. So there’s a product designed to prevent water damage during ice and heavy snow events? Yes. If that’s the case, why didn’t the roofers install it? You’re probably going to be really shocked by my answer. Prepare yourself. They didn’t install it because . . . it’s not . . . free! What!?
What Insurance Companies Won’t Tell You
Surely, if a homeowner were told that they needed this product to protect their investment they would make the wise decision to pay the extra money needed to cover its cost during a roof replacement. Let me explain why they often don’t with an illustration. Let’s compare your roof to your car.
In 2018, a study performed by Cooper Tires showed that 68% of the car owners surveyed had at least one thing wrong with their vehicle that they were waiting to fix. Why do car owners procrastinate repairs to one of the most important things they own? Because they don’t know how to fix it themselves, and only 19% of the car owners felt that they were getting a fair shake when taking their car to a mechanic.
In short, fear of what they don’t know and not knowing who to trust. It is this same “not knowing” that might leave a homeowner cold and wet during a weather event because he didn’t get Ice and Water Shield installed on his roof.
How apt do you think people are to pay for the extra expense of Ice and Water Shield to protect their roof when they . . .
- Know nothing about it
- Don’t experience the problem with it regularly
- Are told by their insurance carrier that it’s unnecessary?
Because insurance carriers have insisted that Ice and Water Shield is unnecessary for the Greater Louisville area and will not pay for it on roofs that don’t already have it, current roofers have gotten used to not installing it.
Perhaps most of the time it’s just fine not to. However, every once in a while, the damn ice comes, sorry, I meant ice dam, and it is absolutely necessary for protecting many homes. In short, it’s not worth the risk to leave it out.
