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adelinalouise

Icicles on gutters

adelinalouise
13 years ago

When I moved here from Phoenix, I bought a house with bad gutters. I hired a contractor to replace them, and told him I would like to have covers on them to avoid leaf build up, since I am a senior and not able to clean or pay to have them cleaned very often. I have no idea what he put up there, although I saw that he did place new downspouts.

My question is, now that I have a HUGE icicle running down a downspout, all the way to the ground, from one corner of the roof, should I be concerned? What will happen if I knock it down and then ignore it? I think if I slam it with something to break it up to remove it, I may damage the downspout. Should I just ignore it as it will melt in the spring?

I have called the contractor, but he won't return my calls.I would really appreciate and thank you for any suggestions or advice. Sunshine lady

Comments (6)

  • brickeyee
    13 years ago

    Knocking down icicles while standing under them is not a safe activity (unless they are very small).

    There is no way to tell how much will come down.

  • sdello
    13 years ago

    you don't say where you moved to. I'm in MA and we have had an abnormal amount of snow. Icicles are everywhere and ice dams are forming all over. Gutter guards or no gutter guards depending on the specific house, gutters will freeze up and any melt will go wherever it can, potentially creating icicles. Like brickeyee said knocking icicles can be dangerous and there's no telling what damage might be done to gutters/downspouts trying to whack them down.

    Sorry if this doesn't provide a direct answer to your question, but I don't think one exists. Based on what you've posted, I do not believe that you contractor did anything improper and yes icicles/freezing can do damage and create hazardous situations.

  • mkroopy
    13 years ago

    Like the others said...it's really just part of life in the good nothern states. I am in southern NY, about an hour north of the city...and we have never seen a winter like this. My old house has massive icicles hanging from the gutters and roof...as do most of the houses around here. I think there are probably some incremental steps you can take...better insulation and stuff...but there is no way to avoid them.

    I agree with the others....some of the icicles on my roof right now probably weigh in excess of a hundred pounds...no way am I gonna try to knock them down...they would probably take off some of my slate roof tiles with them...not to mention crushing me if it landed on me.

  • Davita
    13 years ago

    I'm from Utah and had Ice Dam problems too until I found out about the T-Panel Ice Melt System.

    I had installed 2 winters ago and NO more Ice Dam Problems.

    The company that install the T-Panel is www.IslandRainGutters.Com

    They have information about the T-Panel Ice Melt System on their website if want to know more about it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Prevent Ice Dams

  • windslam
    13 years ago

    There are heat strips that go along the edge of the roof and in the gutters. I had thought of using them after 3 winters of snow and ice hanging over the edge of the gutters. You could turn them off when not needed.

  • sdello
    13 years ago

    the link provided by Davita is pretty interesting. It has some good product infor on various heating solutions to prevent ice build-up. I really like the T-Panel concept but it looks pricey for modest households.

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