Finished Heated Attic Icicles Hanging Off Roof

If the icicles hanging off your roof are an inch or longer you probably have an ice dam on your hands.

Finished heated attic icicles hanging off roof.

While these icicles may seem like cute roof decorations these are signs that you have roof problems. Inefficient heating in your home can cause more problems than you can imagine. Aside from that large icicles can cau. It s simply a result of insufficient attic insulation or poorly installed insulation.

Icicles usually form right along the bottom edge of a roof. When snow accumulates on a rooftop an unevenly heated attic can melt pockets of snow high. Whether it s icicles or ice damming it could lead to water leakage in parts of the attic and even through the ceiling and walls. Icicles form simply because water running off a roof in above zero weather will start to freeze as the temperature drops below zero most often on mild sunny days followed by cold nights.

Icicles can also be an indicator of ice dams which form when the ice continues to backup on the roof and the snow melt water from the heated attic gets under the shingles. Heat tape melts snow and ice before it can form into icicles on your gutters and roof. Copper tubing in the heat tape uses 120 volts of electricity to deice your roof and gutters. Experts advise against knocking these icicles off as this may break the gutter and can cause injury to the homeowner as chunks of ice can be very heavy and dangerous.