Ask anyone what the first thing is that they think of when they think of Colorado and you will likely hear the answer “snow!” more than anything else. Colorado and snow storms are  old friends. While the severity of the winter storms in the Denver Metro area are typically much milder than the ones that occur in the mountains, a typical home in Denver will still often experience snow accumulation on their roofing. That is why the method of having ice dams or snow retention installed on the roofs of houses in the area has greatly increased in the past few years.  Snow Retention are systems that are put in place on the roof of a home that prevents snow and ice from sliding off the roof and on to the ground. Often the temperatures in Denver can be extreme, going from below freezing and snowing one day and shooting up into the high 60s the next. These extreme temperature changes can cause the ice and snow that has accumulated on a roof to rapidly melt and cause a slide off. These slide offs can be potentially dangerous as there is still snow and ice in the slide off that can hit cars and injure people that happen to be walking below it.

There are several roofing companies in the Denver area that are experienced in installing a snow retention system, including Academy Roofing. They can also help you to evaluate the areas on your home that are more likely to create a snow slide and also make sure that you do not have a build up of ice on your roofs in the winter months. This buildup happens when water gets trapped on the roof and then refreezes again and again. This constant expanding and evaporating of water on the roof can cause quite a bit of damage to the roof itself. If you happen to notice that ice is not melting and running off of your roof like it should be, then it would be a good idea to contact your roofer for an inspection.  Ice that sits on a roof for a long time can loosen and tear away shingles and can also cause damage to the gutter system. It can also cause for your roof to develop a leak which can lead to even more damage on the inside of your home.

Unfortunately, once this type of problem is detected, there is very little a professional roofer can do until spring comes and they are able to get up onto your roof and fix the problem. Until the roofer can get to your roof and repair the problem of the ice damn, you can attempt to minimize the damage whenever possible. You can use a rake or a long shovel to help knock the snow off of the roof before it turns to ice. And when spring comes you can have the roofer install a snow retention system that helps to heat the snow and remove it in a safe manner.