NEW HOPE, Minn. — This winter is proving to be a grind for Minnesotans.
"Its been tough, its been a brutal couple weeks we've had here," said David Porter, as he was cleaning off his roof in New Hope.
"I'm going to be feeling it tonight and tomorrow for sure," said Jeremy Eshelman, as he worked on his mother's roof.
Amid the snowiest start to the season in thirty years.
"These snowfalls had lots of water content and that water, basically that heavy snow compacts on our roof and it's a much heavier snow than what we're used to this time of year," explained KARE 11 Meteorologist Ben Dery.
"We just did my neighbors and they've had a lot of problems with water coming in the house and backing up," said Porter.
"We're hearing reports of people that have newer houses with good insulation are seeing the start of these ice dams," said Dery.
Inadequate insulation in the attic, mixed with snow cover is what Dery says is to blame.
"If you do start to see that layer of ice develop with the really long ice columns hanging down, it might be a good idea to get rid of some of that snow," said Dery.
"My mom and I actually today even had some conversations about does she need some new insulation especially over some of this, the overhang area where it's gotten pretty bad," said Eshelman.
"It's winter, it's Minnesota," laughed Porter.
Luckily, much of the work is seasonal.
"Eventually we're going to get a nice thaw here in the next week or so, so temperatures will be warm enough so mother nature helps to melt some of that snow, but in the meantime its probably a good idea to clear some of that heavy snow off your roof," said Dery.
Energy experts say its important to seal off any air leakage paths between the house and the attic space as a long term fix to avoid the headaches and the costly expenses that come with ice dams.
For more information on preventing ice dams, click here.
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