Meltwater backed up under roof shingles in a freeze-thaw winter, and the ceilings and walls below need drying. Phones answered 24/7.
Fastest: call (833) 490-5225. Or send this and we call you back.
An ice dam is a ridge of refrozen snowmelt at the roof edge. Meltwater runs down the roof, freezes over the cold eave, and pools behind the ridge until it works under the shingles. In Springfield's older, lightly insulated houses it typically reaches the top-floor ceiling and wall cavities, where a crew dries the materials.
Springfield's winters swing back and forth around freezing. The normal first 32°F reading at the city comes on 19 October, and a hard freeze can follow in late October or early November. After that the weather often turns mild in January or February, melts the snow, then drops hard again. That swing is what locks gutters and eaves in ice, and in a town of older houses the water trapped at the roof edge rarely stays on the roof.
An ice dam forms when heat leaking up from the attic melts snow on the upper roof. The meltwater runs down to the eave, which sits over the cold overhang, and refreezes into a ridge. Each new melt has nowhere to go but back up under the lowest shingles, then along the rafters and down into the top-floor ceiling and the wall cavities. This is the same pattern described in old houses and water damage in Springfield, and it is why the first sign is often a stain on a ceiling rather than anything on the roof.
Phones are answered 24/7. Call (833) 490-5225 at any hour and a crew is dispatched as soon as one is available. Whoever comes will look for the water path rather than the visible stain, using moisture meters and thermal imaging to see how far it went into plaster, lath and insulation. The crew then sets air movers and dehumidifiers and re-reads the materials until they are dry, because drying quickly is what limits how far mold can take hold.
Do not climb onto a snowy or icy roof, and do not stand under a bulging ceiling. Switch off power at the panel before touching any fixture or outlet near water. Do not use a space heater on wet floors or near a leak. Mold can trigger allergy and asthma symptoms in some people, so keep children and anyone with breathing problems out of the wet room until it has been dried.
This is the most common form in older Springfield houses, where a ceiling below a low roof edge takes the first load of meltwater. Plaster or drywall may bulge, sag or stain in a line along a rafter. The work usually means opening a section of ceiling, drying the cavity above and checking the joists for soaking.
Meltwater that gets past the roof edge can run down inside a wall and show up on the first floor, sometimes well away from the original stain. The crew checks the wall cavities at each floor. Walls on the upper level are typically opened first, because the water has the most room to travel there.
Wet attic insulation holds water and slows drying, so it is often the part that takes longest. Lightly insulated attics in older houses can have soaked batts or loose fill pressed against the sheathing. The crew removes what is saturated and dries the framing beneath it.
A ceiling leak that reaches a fixture or an exhaust vent is an electrical concern as well as a water one. Power should be off at the panel before anyone touches the fixture. Once power is off, the crew can dry the area around the box and the wiring path, and an electrician handles any repair to the wiring itself.
Tell us what's happening and we'll tell you honestly whether it's a quick fix, and what ice dam water damage should cost.
Not from a ladder or on an icy roof. Clearing the lower edge from the ground is safer, and keeping the gutters and downspouts running helps water leave the eave.
Falls from ladders and icy roofs cause more injuries than the leak does, and standing on a roof edge in winter is not worth the risk. Raking snow from the ground with a roof rake can reduce the load at the eave when it is safe to reach. Chipping ice with a metal tool can crack shingles and make the leak worse, so that should be avoided too.
Clearing the path for meltwater does not fix the cause. The heat loss from the attic that feeds the melt has to be addressed by a qualified contractor, and roof repair is not part of this service. The crew deals with the water that has already gotten inside.
That is your insurer's decision under your own policy. A standard homeowners policy generally responds to sudden and accidental water damage, but it generally does not cover long-term or gradual leaks.
An ice dam can fall on either side of that line depending on how the water got in and how long it ran, so the answer is not something a crew can promise over the phone. Ask your agent how your policy treats water from a roof and ice. Photograph the damage before anything is moved, and call your insurer early.
The crew can document the damage for your claim, including photos and moisture readings. Coverage is your insurer's decision. If you have a complaint about how a claim is handled, the Ohio Department of Insurance takes consumer complaints at 800-686-1526.
Because the cause is in the attic, not on the shingles. Heat that escapes into the attic keeps the upper roof warm enough to melt snow, and the cold eave refreezes the water.
Lightly insulated attics and older roof structures in Springfield's housing stock are a common setting for this. Fixing the cause means the attic, which is outside this service. Until that is done, the same winter weather can repeat the leak in the same spot.
The freeze calendar matters too. The normal last 32°F reading in spring at Springfield is 25 April, and the 90 percent date is 12 May, so ice dam conditions can come back in April and into May in a cold year.
Drying runs as long as the materials need, and the crew removes any ceiling, insulation or wall material that cannot be dried in place. Old plaster and lath are often opened rather than dried through.
Drying is measured against readings, not a set number of days. The crew keeps the equipment running until the materials reach the readings it has chosen as dry, and it adjusts the setup if a cavity stays wet longer than expected. Mold is less likely to take hold when the drying starts soon after the water arrives.
In pre-1940 houses, plaster and lath ceilings can hold water in the lath behind the plaster. Opening a small section to dry the space behind is common. Removal and rebuilding are quoted separately once the drying is finished.
The price is confirmed on site before any work begins, and the emergency stage is explained and approved first. Repairs are quoted after drying, because nobody can price the hidden damage honestly over the phone.
The main factors are how much area is wet, how many rooms and floors the water reached, and which materials it touched. Plaster ceilings, insulation and finished walls take longer than bare framing. Access matters too: a pull-down attic hatch is different from opening a finished ceiling in a bedroom.
Other factors include whether mold is already visible, how long the water sat before anyone found it, and whether an after-hours or weekend visit is needed. If a plumber or electrician must work first, that work is separate and is not part of the crew's quote.
Shut off power to any fixture or outlet under a wet ceiling, and move furniture and belongings out of the drip path. If water is coming through a light, leave the power off at the panel. Emergency tarping or a board-up of an opening is part of the work, but roof repair is not, so the roof itself is a separate job.
The crew opens small sections of ceiling or wall to follow the wet line back toward the roof edge. Water from an ice dam often travels along framing for some distance before it shows, so the stain is rarely above the leak. Tracing it tells the crew which cavities need opening.
Moisture meters and thermal imaging map the wet area behind surfaces that look dry. The reading tells the crew how much plaster, drywall, insulation and subfloor is holding water, which drives the rest of the job.
Standing water is removed, then air movers and dehumidifiers are set up in the affected rooms. The crew re-reads the materials on a schedule until they reach dry, and it adjusts the equipment when the readings stop falling. Materials that cannot be saved are removed.
The crew can give you photos and moisture readings for your insurer. Repairs to ceilings, walls and insulation are quoted separately once the area has dried and someone has seen the full damage.
Springfield's housing is largely pre-war brick and frame, with older plaster ceilings and attics that were not built for the insulation levels used in newer homes. That combination makes the upper floor the first place meltwater shows up. The stain may be on the ceiling, but the path it took is inside the framing.
Outside the city limits, many houses are farmhouses and village cottages with long eaves and older roofs. Their interior work follows the same drying method, but the water source is often easier to find from the ground. Anyone with a private well should note that the ice dam problem is a roof problem, not a water supply problem.
The normal first 32°F reading at Springfield is 19 October, and the normal last reading is 25 April, with the 90 percent date at 12 May. That means ice dam conditions run from late autumn into spring. The frozen pipes freeze calendar lists the same dates and the matching risks for pipes. The National Weather Service notes that its readings are taken five feet above ground, so conditions at the eave can run colder than the published figure.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
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An ice dam is the ice that causes the leak, and it is usually the roof edge where the water backs up. The leak is the water that gets under the shingles and into the house. Both matter, but the interior damage is the part a water damage crew handles. Roof repair is a separate job.
No. The crew handles interior water damage and emergency tarping or board-up of an opening. Roof replacement and roof repair are not offered. Ask a roofing contractor about the cause, and ask about attic insulation and ventilation if the same leak keeps returning.
Phones are answered 24/7, and a crew is dispatched as soon as one is available. The service does not promise an arrival time, so ask the dispatcher for the current estimate when you call. Keep the power off near the wet area while you wait.
The crew judges the water on site and tells you what it found. Water that has passed through insulation or dirty framing changes how the work is done. Wear gloves if you have to handle wet materials, and wash your hands afterwards.
It can, if the wet materials are not dried quickly. The Ohio Department of Health says mold will continue to grow as long as it has a source of water. Ohio does not license mold remediation the way some states do, so ask any company which standard it works to.
That depends on your policy and your insurer's decision. A standard homeowners policy generally responds to sudden and accidental water damage and generally does not cover gradual leaks. Ask your agent how your policy treats water from a roof and ice, and call your insurer early.
Only if a pipe has frozen or burst. Plumbing repair is permitted and inspected through the Clark County Combined Health District's plumbing program, and a plumber handles that work. The crew can dry the area once the pipe is repaired.