The wintry weather is causing headaches for local homeowners.
Roofing contractors tell WXXI News they have received scores of calls from people concerned about ice damming.
That happens when ice accumulates in your gutters. One sign of it is icicles hanging from your roof.
"It doesn't allow your gutters to drain the water, which causes, a lot of times, leaking into people's homes due to the water coming up around the soffits and into the sidewalls and through the ceiling," said Marshall Mutnick, sales manager at Northside Roofing in Fairport.
He said the most common cause of ice damming is lack of ventilation and lack of proper insulation in the home. But addressing those issues provides no guarantee against the problem.
"If your house faces south and gets an abundance of sun, even though it's cold out, that snow is melting and freezing, melting and freezing outside of the house and there is nothing you can do that is going to stop that."
Another problem is heavy amounts of snow accumulating on rooftops. Once that starts to melt, it can cause water to leak into your home if the gutters are clogged.
Mutnick recommends hiring a professional to rake the snow off of your roof. But he urges caution before using products made from calcium chloride to melt that snow.
"It liquefies ice and it makes it harder to refreeze again. But if that water can't go anywhere because your gutters are plugged up, all you're doing is making it easier for that water to enter your home."
