Although there are others e g.
Salt to melt ice on roof.
It will damage the roofing siding gutters and downspouts and the poisonous runoff will kill foundation plants.
Place this vertically on your roof near the edge so it will melt a section of snow and ice creating an area where the water can leak off.
There are five commonly used types of ice melt a k a.
Contains 95 percent of calcium chloride and works down to 20 degrees f.
Purchase sidewalk salt also called calcium chloride from your local hardware or big box store.
Here are four reasons salt pucks are bad for your roof.
A do not put salt on your roof.
Comes in a 14 lb pail and is an estimated 60 pucks per container.
Salt socks work on the principle that the ice melting compound is contained in a linear form which when laid across an ice dam will melt a channel through the ice.
Calcium chloride is the best salt to use on ice dams according to handyman glenn haege.
Apply 1 tablet on every sqft of problem area.
If you must use salt at least choose the right type of salt.
While safely on the ground toss a roofmelt tablet onto the roof.
They work effectively in temperatures down to 25 f.
The tablets are specially formulated with calcium chloride so they won t harm your exterior like products such as rock salt which could rust your gutters and damage shingles.
Urea ammonium sulfate glycols formates etc they are not easily obtainable nor are they widely used.
The tablets help prevent roof damage by melting through ice dams and allowing water to drain safely.
Most salt pucks use calcium chloride to melt ice which can cause numerous issues down the line.
Use roof melt tablets to reduce snow and ice buildup that occurs on your roof typically on the eaves and in gutters.
The roofmelt ice melt is designed to eliminate the need to climb onto roofs while melt snow.
That path would then presumably be used as an escape route for water that may tend to get trapped behind the ice dam.
But are they doing more harm than good.
Gently toss the tied off pantyhose onto the edge of your roof to begin melting the snow.
If there are heavy rains and you already put ice melting socks on the roof the rock salt will dissolve by water and will run down into your gutters so it s best to put them up when it becomes cold.
While safely on the ground toss a roofmelt tablet onto the roof.
It is not as likely to stain or cause corrosion as sodium chloride but it can damage wooden gutters.
It melts ice faster than sodium chloride does works at lower temperatures than sodium chloride and also melts larger volumes of ice.
Salt pucks are supposed to eliminate the need to climb onto your roof and are designed to melt snow and ice before ice dams can form.
