A Hardware Store Guide to Ice Dams, Plus Could Flooding Be Next?

Potentially record-breaking snowfall, epic icicles and warming temps. The trifecta sounds like a water problem — one you don’t want in your home.

“We hear a lot of water coming into living spaces,” said Bryan Dawson, manager at Welna Ace Hardware in Robbinsdale. “Even in my own home, I’ve had water damage in the past.”

To avoid that and costly repairs, Dawson says a roof rake is an economical tool.

At Welna Ace Hardware there are two kinds, one that requires homeowners to push down and another, branded the Avalanche!, that allows you to push up.

“You actually start on the bottom or eve of the roof and push it upward and the snow comes back on that slide,” said Dawson.

Salt pucks are another option, said Dawson.

“As the sun hits them and the salt starts activating, [it] melts through the ice dam and into the gutters and helping to move that water away from the house,” he said.

If the job is too big or if there’s damage already, calling a professional might be your best bet.

Ice dams form when heat escapes through the attic due to poor insulation or venting. A spring energy audit could help determine where heat is escaping and if more insulation is needed.

Bryan Dawson shows one of the roof rakes sold at Welna Ace Hardware.

Could Spring Flooding Be Next?

Local weather observer Steve Reckers, who provides data to the National Weather Service from his New Hope home, says we’re inching closer to a snowfall record. Reckers’ data go back to the 1950s.

As of Tuesday, Reckers has recorded 81.6 inches of snowfall, just 7.3 inches from tying the all-time mark set during the 2017-18 winter season.

“March has always been the snowiest month over the historical record,” he said. “I enjoy watching it. It’s always fun to see what might happen.”

Reckers says a rapid warmup could create flooding issues.

“Fortunately most of the streams are relatively low because of the dry weather we had coming into this year,” he said. “But if we keep getting snow and then you get a rapid warmup with rain on top of it, you can have some big issues with flooding.”

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