Roof inspection
Photos and findings before anyone quotes a tear-off.
An ice dam leak is a heat problem wearing a roof problem's clothes. Stop the water first, then fix the attic.
The mechanism is always the same. Heat escaping into the attic melts snow on the upper roof, the meltwater runs down to the cold eave beyond the heated space, and it refreezes there. The ridge of ice grows until water backs up under the shingle courses and finds the deck.
Never chip it off. Hammers, hatchets, and picks break shingles and cut through the underlayment, which turns a winter leak into a spring tear-off. Steam or controlled melting relieves the dam without destroying what's under it.
The permanent fix is air sealing, insulation, and balanced ventilation — not a bigger gutter and not heat cable as a strategy. The winter job is to stop water entering the house; the attic work gets scheduled when it's warm enough to do properly.
Photos and findings before anyone quotes a tear-off.
Active leaks and storm openings, 24/7.
Full tear-off when repair stops making sense.
Primary coverage is Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, with regular dispatch into the close South Hills, North Hills, and Washington County towns.
No. Picks and hammers break shingles and cut the underlayment, turning a winter leak into a spring tear-off. Steam or controlled melting is the safe route.
Because the cause is heat loss into the attic, not the roof surface. Until the air sealing, insulation and ventilation are addressed, the same slope dams every year.
It's a band-aid that costs money to run. It can keep a channel open on a problem eave, but it doesn't address why the snow is melting in the first place.
24/7 dispatch for leaks, storm damage, hail, fallen limbs and ice dams across the Ohio Valley.