MINNEAPOLIS — "It's going to be an interesting couple of days out there," said Rob Corniea, director of operations at Minnesota Exteriors, which put out a handy list of things to do ahead of a winter storm.
Even Corniea, who has 20 years of experience at the company, can't deny what's to come in the next few days.
"This year is kind of unique in the fact that, how much snow we have, we have a whole years worth of snow in early January — whole seasons worth — and the snow this year, there was a lot of rain mixed into it," Corniea explained, meaning ice dams were a problem for many this year.
Making those roofs especially vulnerable to a heavy load of snow.
"You can have buckling, and if they already have an ice dam, that water is going to start melting, and stuck behind the ice and start finding its way into the house," he said. "So they need to get the ice dam removed."
Vents that are covered up can be a problem, too.
"We're finding now that people are calling us because they have water coming in now through their turbine vents, the ones that spin," Corniea added.
Corniea said clearing the gutters so the water has somewhere to go is also crucial, as well as making sure HVAC vents remain clear.
"You don't want those plugged or covered," he said. "There's two options: on your roof, you wanna make sure those stay open, and also down by your foundation, you want to keep those clear so all the Co2 can make its way out like it's supposed to away from your house. When you cover those things, they get plugged, and also if those are covered water can run back down into those systems."
Corniea added that the freezing, thawing and refreezing pattern has most likely created icy conditions on roofs. He recommends hiring a professional who has gear to handle anything up there, instead of doing it yourself.
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