February’s ice storms are finally behind us, but that doesn’t mean the cold weather is over just yet. Then, of course, we have the rain to look forward to this summer. (If you or your clients have photos of the ice dams, we would love to see them to offer our observations of what is going on.)

The roofs on homes and businesses alike are really taking a beating from Mother Nature. If your home had an ice dam or if the roof suffered any type of damage from the heavy snow or tree branches, then you may be dealing with roof leaks.

How to Weather Roof Leaks

Many people are unaware that they even have a roof leak until the water starts dripping from the ceiling. By the time this happens, the leak could have caused substantial damage to the wood frame of the roof, attic insulation, items in the attic (if you have anything stored there), and the sheetrock on the ceiling in the room(s) below.

One of the best ways to deal with roof leaks from Ice Dams is installing spray foam.

You might have considered spray foam only in terms of insulation, but did you know that while spray foam is an air barrier, open cell spray foam allows the water from leaking roofs (from damage to the shingles since there won’t be anymore ice dams) to drain without causing huge amounts of damage?

Spray Foam and Leaking Roofs

If your home has the typical pink fiberglass insulation and the roof should begin to leak, you will have a real mess on your hands.

While there’s no doubt that the insulation will become wet, it also becomes a sopping wet, useless mess that will only spread the moisture further along the floor of the attic (and the ceiling below). Once you discover the leak, all the insulation will need to be removed and disposed of. What a mess!

If the roof should begin leaking from a wind storm or other damage and the attic is filled with open cell spray foam, however, the water will drain straight through the material, without spreading a great deal. This makes finding the leak easier.

After the leak has been repaired, the open cell spray foam will dry fairly quickly. Read that again. The spray foam will simply dry out. It won’t degrade, it won’t warp or clump, and it won’t need to be replaced, unlike fiberglass.

Spray Foam Controls Air Leaks

There is a substantial reduction in energy costs when homes are sealed using spray foam. The primary source of heat loss is via the attic. Even small cracks and spaces can allow hot air to escape.

Spray foam doesn’t just seal “most” cracks, it seals all cracks, crevices, pinpoint holes, and other spaces where hot air can leak out and cold air can find a way in.

Spray Foam is Environmentally Friendly

Fiberglass insulation will need to be replaced if it becomes saturated. That’s a whole lot of material being added to our landfills.
However, once dry, spray foam insulation contains no dangerous chemicals or fumes. It causes no corrosion to metal or wood and it lasts for decades.
Spray foam needs no replacement, no maintenance, and your costs due to roof leaks are substantially reduced.