Snow and Ice Removal

Snow and ice buildup can wreak havoc on your Ottawa roof. Firon Roofing offers expert snow and ice removal services to prevent structural damage, stop dangerous ice dams, and keep your home safe through winter.

Snow and ice removal services protect your home from Ottawa’s harsh winter weather

Ottawa homeowners and businesses deal with snow and ice through much of the year, which is hard on their roofs.

Snow can weigh more than 50kg per cubic meter as it packs down with each fresh snowfall, with ice coming in at over 900kg. These tremendous weights can cause incredible damage to your home if they break free.

Periodic ice and snow removal is the best way to protect your home from winter weather damage and ensure it will last for years to come.

How snow removal helps your roof

Snow-covered rooftops are a beautiful feature of winter weather, but all that beauty can mask serious trouble if you let it build up too high.

The weight alone can cause strain on your roof structure, but that’s not the true threat unless you experience record-breaking snowfall.

The bigger problem is that the snow packs down from its own weight, which can impede the motion of the snowmelt. As this water moves toward your eavestroughs, it can refreeze before it gets there.

Once you’ve formed a layer of ice beneath the snow, it will continue to grow until it forms an ice dam.

Removing the snow from your roof before it gets too deep ensures that the snowmelt will leave your roof quickly.

What is an ice dam?

While it’s almost certain you’ve heard the term ice dam, it isn’t so certain that you know what they are or how they form.

An ice dam is a buildup of ice along the edges of your roof. Icicles, pretty as they may be, are your roof’s way of crying for help.

When you see icicles around someone’s home, you can be positive that they have an ice dam. Once an ice dam forms, it will only grow larger and more dangerous until the spring thaw.

These ice formations can weigh as much as 900+kg per cubic meter and put tremendous strain on your roof. And if one section were to let go, anything beneath it would get destroyed.

That could be your car, part of your home, or just the foliage around your home. We’ve also seen ice dams catch on the gutters and swing into the side of a home, tearing up the siding as the gutters are ripped from their mountings.

When you’re dealing with this much weight, nothing can stop it, and virtually anything is possible.

Ice dam solutions

At Firon Roofing, we understand what it takes to protect your home from ice dam catastrophes. The main issue is giving the snowmelt a place to go besides piling up and refreezing on your roof.

If the buildup isn’t too bad, we can simply get rid of the ice and ensure that your eaves troughs aren’t clogged.

But when the ice dams become too large, the best solution is to cut troughs into the ice that the meltwater can use to leave the roof.

The scale of the ice dam and the properties of your roof determine which method is best to handle your ice dam troubles. Our long experience with Ottawa winters and roofing expertise help us make that decision.