Ice Dam Removal & Prevention in Newport, RI

We keep Newport ice dams from soaking the plaster and trim of your older home

Newport's winters are milder than inland Rhode Island's, but the city still gets snow, and it often comes with rain behind it. On the colonial houses of The Point and Historic Hill, that wet snow collects behind dormers, in the valleys between roof sections, and along eaves that hang over the sidewalk. When it freezes at the edge, the water behind it backs up under the shingles. In a house with plaster walls and original trim, that water does damage long before a stain appears.

Older Newport houses also lose a lot of heat through the roof. Many were built long before modern insulation, and their attics are often small or partly finished, so warm air reaches the roof deck and melts snow from below. The meltwater runs to the cold overhang and freezes there. Larger Victorian houses near Bellevue Avenue and in the Kay-Catherine area add steep slopes, towers and porch roofs to the mix, which gives ice more corners to build in.

If you have an ice dam now, we remove it by hand, carefully cutting channels through the ice so the trapped water can drain into the gutters and away. That approach protects the roofing and the gutters. Icicles over a front walk are a real hazard on Newport's close-set streets, so the sooner the water has a way out, the better. Call (401) 274-3030 or send a photo, and we will respond the same business day with a free estimate.