02feb20b2a14The Minneapolis area can't quite shake Old Man Winter, and often that brings some problems for homeowners.  Sometimes a gutter or downspout will freeze due to winter storms that swept through the area. They turn the area into a solid block of ice, and this leaves the worry of having the gutters and downspouts becoming ruined and pulling away from the home. Did you know that dealing with these frozen problems is actually quite easy?  You can stop the worrying about something bad happening; just fix the problem and get it done with.

But first, fight the urge to go out there with your shovel or axe and chip away at it. This can cause further damage if you choose to break away the ice this way. You'll do more harm than good to the gutters.  Instead, you can use hot water or a steam system to remove the ice from the area.  If you're leery of handling this, you can hire a professional that knows how to remove the ice, but it is not a permanent way to get rid of the problem. It will most likely come back time after time.

You could wait the ice out as well. A stretch of warm, sunny weather could take care of things.  If there is no damage done to the roof, dripping in the inside or so on, then there may be no need to try to remove the ice since it is not directly harming anything.  But pay attention to the ice build-up; if it's turning into an ice dam that's reaching up to your roofing shingles, you may find water dripping on your heads while you're inside the home.   If serious ice dams are developing, it is definitely time to call an ice dam removal professional like Quarve Contracting.

And then there's the issue of prevention.  Make sure that your gutters are cleared out every six months, especially before the snow flies. This makes sure that they are in good working order throughout the winter so you do not have to worry about removing the ice from the gutters.

Quarve does the ice dam removal and gutter repair that you may need this winter. We are a Minneapolis and St. Paul area gutter installation company.