ICE DAMS are huge problems in the winter months in our area. As Snow builds up on your roof, heat release from the roof will melt the snow in contact with the roof. The water from the melting snow will run down into a cold gutter, thus potentially freezing in the gutter. Once the gutter is filled with ice, it will continue to run off over the gutter creating icicles, and eventually a "shelf" of ice. This "shelf" will eventually stop the flow of the melt-off over the gutter. Once the water has no place to go, it will start to "dam up" and the standing water could find its way into your home under shingles, through vents, and any path of least resistance to the flow of the water. Most homeowners will assume it's an immediate problem with the roof (not to say it isn't necessarily) but in most cases when ice and snow is present on the roof, the immediate resolve is to remove the ice and standing water as quickly as possible. Once removed a more thorough examination of the roof can be done. More often than not, an ice dam issue is not necessarily a roof issue, but a ventilation or insulation issue. Unfortunately, If you have water leaking in your home with ice and snow present, it's already to late to address either of those issues. The best course of action is to remove the ice and snow, relieve the standing water, and prevent any potential further damage inside your home from the leak. When a leak occurs it's safe to assume that most homeowners will call a roofing company to address these issues, unfortunately most roofing companies don't have the proper steaming equipment to remove the ice first. They will resort to breaking up the ice manually to assess any damage under the ice, using hammers, hatchets, chisels etc. This blunt force removal can cause serious damage to your roofing system. Shingles may be damaged, broken or holes punched through, and gutters will be left dented and damaged as well. This method not only is very damaging but will most likely not clear the area in its entirety thus allowing ice dams to reform and be back to the original issue. The worst part of this scenario is that while some will claim they will be as careful as possible but, may still end up damaging the roof and claiming the damage was existing and "double dip" on selling a repair or whole new roof (knowingly or unknowingly).