1. Do you provide free estimates?

No, free estimates are not a thing in the ice dam removal industry for multiple reasons.
We would have to drive to your house, get up on your icy roof, and do a substantial amount of work removing the snow just to see how much ice there is. Even knowing how much ice there is does not tell us how long it will take to remove because one of the biggest time factors is how tightly the ice is bonded to the roof. In some cases, the ice practically jumps off the roof, while in others it's quite the opposite.

2. Do you use steam?

Of course.

3. Do you work with insurance companies?
If you have a leak, many insurance companies will reimburse the cost of the ice dam removal, however that is between you and your insurance company. We require that we are paid at the completion of the job.

4. How long does it take?
We can remove anywhere from 6 to 40 linear feet an hour, with the average being about 20'. Yes, that range is enormous; that's because there is enormous variability in ice dams and their removal. We have seen ice dams 14" thick, while the average is only about 6". Just to name a few more variables:

       How far does the ice go up the roof? Sometimes its only 16", other times it's 5'
       How much snow is covering the ice? 6" of fluffy powder? 2' of heavy wet snow? Or 2' of rock hard                      snow?
       Is your roof so steep that every move we make needs to be in coordination with a safety harness? Or is              it so low and flat that we don't even need to harness and can move freely?
 

Keep in mind that you are never required to go beyond the 2-hr minimum, and we only charge for time that was pre-approved by you. If you only wanted to do 2 hours, and our tech losses track of time and stayed for 2.5 hrs, you only pay for 2 hrs.

5. How many guys do you send out?

We send one technician out per job except for the occasion when we have a new tech being trained.  The problem with sending a two-man crew is that there is not always work for two guys, but you are being

charged for both of them. Some companies send out two techs but there is always only one steamer. Inevitably the job gets to a point where the only relevant work left to do is melt the ice with the steamer, and the 2nd tech is doing essentially nothing. He will "keep busy" by shoveling an irrelevant part of your roof, or cleaning up an unnecessary mess created by the first tech, but it's not an efficient use of your money.

6. Do you do repair work caused by water damage, or install heat cables?

No and no.

7. How can ice dams be prevented?

If you can remove all of the snow from your roof there is no possibility of ice dams. No you cannot just remove snow from the lowest few feet of the roof because ice dams will form at the edge of the snow line.

Heat cables work reasonably well but they do not last forever.

If you are having your roof replaced soon, requesting extra ice & water barrier will make your roof waterproof and ice dams harmless.

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