Ice dam steaming speed is important to property owners who are inquiring about the cost of ice dam removal. How fast can the ice dam be removed? Unfortunately there is no perfect way to give an exact ice dam steaming speed, unless of course the snow has been removed (see note below) already, then an estimate can be close. However, most good ice dam steaming companies will give you an average number of linear feet of ice dams that they can remove per hour. This estimate will give you a rough idea of about how many hours your job may take. The reason that exact estimates of speed/time cannot be given is because there is no way to determine the depth of the ice until all the snow covering the ice dam has been removed. In some cases the ice dam goes back 3 feet up the roof and in others it goes up 15 feet or more! A lot of companies do have a minimum number of hours they charge for. A common minimum is two hours. A common variable of feet removed per hour is somewhere between 7-25 linear feet per hour. Sometimes this number could be less, sometimes more. This is just a good way for the owner to get an idea of speed. So on a good case it MAY be possible to remove 50 feet of ice dams in 2 hours (most companies also charge for set up and tear down) and a bad case may take about 7 hours of steaming to remove 50 feet! It all depends on thickness and depth of the ice dams on the roof. Another factor that may slow down the process is gutters that are packed with frozen leaves or debris. Low pressure ice dam steaming is by far the safest and fastest method to completely remove the ice.
Note: If you have already removed the snow and can send good pictures, most companies can give you a fairly close idea of how long your ice dam removal will take.
Ice Dam Steaming Speed
If you hire a company with the wrong equipment (a hot pressure washer) and not a low pressure steamer, you risk roof damage and your ice dam removal will take longer than it should. Low pressure steamers are by far the safest and fastest way to remove ice from your roof. If you have questions or would like help locating our members in your area please call IDSAFE # 612-460-0474 or contact us. We reply quickly.