During freeze and thaw cycles in the winter, ice dams and icicles form on most houses in upstate new york. They can cause damage to roofs and gutters, and have the potential for injuring people as they brake off.

Ice on a roof can be reduced by having proper ventilation in your attic space and proper insulation in your house.

Ideal roof ventilation allows air to flow in under the eaves and out near the ridge of the house. This flow of air helps to prevent temperature differentials on the roof that lead to ice formation.

And the insulation above your living space should be at least a foot deep. If yours is lower, consider rolling out some more or having some blown in. (Be sure that ventilation doesn’t get obstructed.)

Even the best insulated and ventilated roof will have ice problems when conditions are right. So a last line of defense is heating cables that melt off ice as it forms. They don’t always look great, but they look better than gutters hanging off or roof buckling up.

As the weather gets colder, frozen pipes will begin to become a problem. Sometimes they are just a nuisance, but when frozen pipes crack, thousands of dollars of property damage can occur!

An ounce of prevention is always best. Pipes freeze when they are in the path of drafts or when they are near a poorly insulated outside wall. So consider replacing basement windows with glass-block windows to cut down on drafts. Make sure there is insulation all around the top of your basement walls in the cavities (along the rim joist.) Feel for air coming in around utility penetrations and dryer vents and insulate accordingly.

A second line of defense is to insulate your pipes themselves. Home stores sell foam sleeves that can be put over pipes.

When the pipes do freeze, try to thaw them using a hair dryer set on hot. To do this, you’ll have to try to trace out where the ice clog is. If there is a long stretch of pipe where the clog could be, start by warming up joints and turns in the pipe.

I do not recommend using a flame to thaw pipes, as their proximity to dry structural wood in the house could cause a bigger problem. And if you accidentally find yourself heating a gas pipe, you could be in a dangerous situation (although, you would probably end up with thawed-out water pipes.)