What To Do About Frozen Gutters

Frozen gutters are a frustrating and even dangerous prospect. Your gutters can back up and overflow when there is an ice dam, and this can eventually damage your foundation. With that said, many homeowners still struggle with what to do about frozen gutters.

Pour hot water onto the ice in your frozen gutters to melt it as quickly as possible. Repeatedly tap the ice in your gutters and break it up with a roof rake without damaging them.

You can put salt on the ice to melt it, but you need to be careful because excess salt can eventually damage your gutters.

Put the ice in a stocking or sock so that you don’t damage your gutters because it won’t directly touch them. Insulate your gutters with attic insulation so that they don’t freeze during the winter.

Follow along as we explore what to do about frozen gutters.

You should remove ice from gutters, but not in every instance. It can be dangerous to remove ice from gutters if the pieces are long. This can damage your gutters and can also pose a risk when you are on a ladder.

Ideally, you should at least wait for the ice to partially melt before you remove it from the gutters. Otherwise, the pieces of ice will be too big and you may bend the gutter when you pull it out.

You are also more likely to suffer a ladder injury if you have to lean over too far to dislodge stubborn ice.

You need to treat your gutters if they are full of ice. Sometimes, all that you need to do is wait it out if the temperatures are going to increase. However, you need to act fast if there is no sign that it will get any warmer outside.

This is important because gutters can overflow and leak water into your home and even your foundation. Luckily, there are several home remedies and simple tools that you can use to unfreeze your gutters.

Let’s take a look at what you can do about frozen gutters to avoid expensive repairs.

Salt is a timeless method to melt ice and prevent it from forming. Some homeowners put salt in their gutters preemptively before a freeze, and this is a great option.

However, in many cases, you can also melt ice in your frozen gutters once it has already formed.

You can pour salt directly onto the ice and it will eventually melt. The only downside to this option is that the salt can eventually damage your gutters over time.

It is an effective solution, but it’s not something that you want to do regularly, especially if your gutters are in bad condition.

Sometimes, pouring salt on the ice in your frozen gutters isn’t enough. It may sound silly, but you can work miracles if you fill stockings or long socks with salt.

This can help protect your gutters from salt damage as well, which is a huge benefit.

This also acts as a slow-release method because the effects are less immediate. Place as many stockings filled with salt in your gutters as you need to.

However, you may want to consider another method if it’s an emergency and you need to melt the ice quickly.

You can also use this method as a preventative measure before it snows or rains in the winter. Simply fill several stockings with salt and place them at several points throughout your gutter system.

This will make your gutters less likely to freeze once the temperatures plummet and it snows or rains.

Hot water is among the least damaging and most effective ways to unfreeze frozen gutters. This option is ideal if you have a set of helping hands because you will need to use a ladder.

Be careful because you will need to climb a ladder with a container of hot water.

Ideally, you should make several trips with smaller containers of water so that it’s easier to climb. This will also ensure that you don’t spill any water as you climb the ladder.

Carefully pour the hot water directly onto the ice and it should melt quickly.

The process can be tedious depending on how big your house is. You will likely need to pour hot water into the gutters around your home.

Otherwise, you can focus the hot water on the parts of your gutters with ice dams.

Roof rakes are just as useful for breaking up ice as they are for removing debris from your gutters. Make sure to choose a roof rake that is long enough to reach tricky spots in your gutters.

Carefully tap the ice in your gutters with the rake to break it up.

You may even be able to scoop some of the ice out of your gutters with the rake, depending on its shape. Try not to use too much force when you hit the ice, or else you may damage your gutters.

Some homeowners use a rake to remove leftover ice after using hot water.

The best option is to go along your home and tap the ice in several parts until it breaks up. Wait to pull the ice out of the gutters until you’ve broken up several sections.

This will make it safer and easier to remove the ice.

While this won’t help if your gutters are already frozen, it is a great preventative measure. Fill your gutters with attic insulation so that ice won’t form.

This is a simple and easy process and it doesn’t necessarily mean that your gutters will look strange.

You can simply put the insulation at the bottom of the gutter and pack it down. It shouldn’t stick out, so you won’t have to worry about the appearance as long as you compress the insulation.

Ice and snow will still accumulate, but the insulation will stop it from freezing and can quickly melt ice.

Clean your gutters before it gets too cold so that they are less likely to freeze. Moist debris can easily clog your gutters, which makes it all too easy for them to freeze when it gets cold.

Ideally, you should clean your gutters at least twice a year so that they function properly.

One of those cleanings should be before the fall or winter when gutters are most likely to freeze. Try to be thorough and remove wet leaves and debris.

You can put salt in your gutters when you are done so that they are ready for the winter, but this can eventually cause damage.

This preventative measure can save you time and money in the winter. It’s not an ironclad way to stop your gutters from freezing, but it can make a huge difference.

Gutter Guards don’t stop gutters from freezing, but they can help quite a bit. Your gutters are more likely to freeze if you have lots of debris in them.

Debris can stay wet for a long time in your gutters, and that makes them more likely to freeze.

Install gutter guards to keep as much debris out of your gutters as possible before it gets too cold. Gutter guards cost between $120 and $360, and they are worth every penny.

They help protect your gutters year-round, but they particularly come in handy during the winter.

The best way to keep gutter downspouts from freezing is to install heat panels or wires. Heating panels and wires cost between $55 and $300, depending on how elaborate of a system you want.

They work to heat your gutters and downspouts

You can also help keep ice out of your downspouts if you place sponges in them. Sponges don’t stop ice from forming directly, but they help keep debris out of your downspouts.

This will help in the long haul because there won’t be as much debris in your gutters that would make it easy for ice to form.

Salt is a popular way to melt ice dams in frozen gutters. It is an effective method, but it can damage your gutters and it may not be worth it.

You can soften the blow if you put the ice in a stocking so that it doesn’t melt with the ice and damage your gutters.

Break up the ice in your gutters with a roof rake. This is a great option because it shouldn’t damage your gutters as long as you don’t use too much force.

Put attic insulation in your gutters before it gets too cold so that ice won’t accumulate.

Invest in a heating system for your gutters if you live in an area with harsh winters. Clean your gutters before winter starts so that they are less likely to freeze.

Install gutter guards to keep debris out of your gutters so that it isn’t quite as easy for ice to form.