How to protect your roof from snow and ice this winter
About 19% of all homeowners’ claims at Travelers Insurance are due to damages caused by snow, ice and freezing cold.
How to protect your roof this winter
Vice President of Travelers Insurance Angi Orbann joins FOX Weather to discuss the best practices for protecting your home's roof this winter.
As winter approaches, many homeowners may need to assess the state of their roofs.
According to Travelers Insurance vice president Angi Orbann, during the winter about 19% of all homeowners’ claims at Travelers are due to damages caused by snow, ice and freezing cold.
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Roofs often experience much of the damage. Snow – particularly dense snow or icy snow – can become heavy and place immense pressure on a roof.
Orbann provided several recommendations on how to help prevent this damage to your roof and home.
Check your roof
A man clears the roof of a home in Concord, Massachusetts.
(Jonathan Wiggs / The Boston Globe via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Look for any wear-and-tear, dips or anything else that may seem peculiar. Also consider having an inspection done by a professional roofer before a winter storm.
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Invest in a roof rake
A man works to remove snow from the roof in Buffalo, New York.
(Patrick McPartland / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)
Available at hardware stores and online, roof rakes can help homeowners remove snow from their roofs while standing on the ground. Removing snow can help alleviate pressure a roof may experience from heavy snow.
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Remove snow before more snow falls
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If your roof already has snow on it from one storm, snow from additional snow storms will place extra weight on your roof. So, Orbann advises keeping a close eye on the weather to see what storms may be on the horizon.
Orbann noted that homeowners should also pay attention to the amount of ice building up on their roofs. Ice can weigh about five times more than fluffy snow, she said.
Don’t remove too much snow
Larry Goodno, left, and Lewis Jarrett clear snow off the roof of a house on Brighton Ave. in Portland Wednesday, February 11, 2015.
(Shawn Patrick Ouellette / Getty Images)
Orbann said leaving an inch or two of snow on your roof is fine, as removing much more may put your roof shingles or roof covering at risk of being scraped. These scrapes can eventually lead to leaks.
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Clear your gutters and downspouts
A man removes icicles from the gutter of a house.
(Sebastian Willnow / picture alliance / Getty Images)
Making sure your gutters and downspouts are clear of debris, ice and snow can help prevent snow and melted ice water from a backup onto your roof. If you see icicles forming from your roofs and gutters, it’s a sign that the gutters are backed up.
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Beware the ice dams
A maintenance worker gets soaked in the rain as he clears ice and snow off the skylights and roof to stop the leaking caused by ice dams backing up.
(Gordon Chibroski / Portland Press Herald / Getty Images)
Ice dams are strips of ice that form on a roof when heavy snow melts in the daytime and then refreezes when temperatures drop at night.
When frozen, the ice dams can trap water on the roof. After several days of freezing and melting, the dams can cause ice and melted water to make their way under shingles and into your home.