Ice damming: why your ceiling leaks in February
It's not a hole in your roof. It's a ridge of ice turning your shingles into a swimming pool liner — and Calgary's chinook cycle is the perfect machine for building one.
Every late winter, Calgary restoration crews get the same call: a brown stain spreading across an upstairs ceiling, or water dripping from a window frame, in a house with a roof that passed inspection two summers ago. The culprit is usually an ice dam.
How an ice dam forms
Heat escaping from your living space warms the roof deck. Snow melts, runs down, and refreezes at the cold eaves — building a ridge of ice. Behind that ridge, meltwater pools. Shingles shed running water, but they're not designed to hold standing water; it works up under the shingles and into the attic, insulation, and eventually your ceilings and walls. Calgary's chinooks — melt, refreeze, melt, refreeze — build dams faster than almost any climate in Canada.
Signs you have one
- A thick band of ice along the eaves, or icicles that look impressive but shouldn't be there
- Water stains on upper-floor ceilings or around window tops in late winter
- Damp attic insulation or frost on the underside of the roof deck
- Paint bubbling on exterior wall tops
What to do right now if it's leaking
- Move belongings, catch drips, and poke a small hole in a bulging ceiling bubble to drain it controlled (a bucket underneath) rather than letting it burst
- Don't climb up with a hatchet — chipping ice wrecks shingles and people. Roofers use steam; some situations justify calcium chloride socks laid across the dam
- Call for a moisture assessment sooner rather than later — the water you see is a fraction of what the insulation and wall cavities absorbed
Why the damage is bigger than the stain
Ice dam leaks are slow and repetitive. Insulation compacts and stops insulating (making the dam worse next cycle), drywall stays damp for weeks, and hidden mold gets a head start in exactly the cavities you can't see. Proper handling means moisture mapping, drying or removing what's wet, and — in pre-1990s homes — testing before any ceiling comes down.
Preventing next year's dam
Ice dams are a symptom of heat loss: improve attic insulation and air sealing, keep soffit vents clear, and consider eave protection membrane when reroofing. Fixing the leak without fixing the heat loss buys you exactly one winter.
Ceiling stain spreading? We do water damage restoration across Calgary and area, 24/7 — (403) 477-2281.
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Need help now?
Speak with Aden Integrated Services Ltd about your project.