The key is to avoid sodium chloride or rock salt.
Salt to melt snow on roof.
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.
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.
If it s applied routinely it can damage shingles nails eavestroughs and other fittings.
Purchase sidewalk salt also called calcium chloride from your local hardware or big box store.
Gently toss the tied off pantyhose onto the edge of your roof to begin melting the snow.
Use roof melt tablets to reduce snow and ice buildup that occurs on your roof typically on the eaves and in gutters.
But it can still rain between you putting the socks on the roof and first snow.
Here are four reasons salt pucks are bad for your roof.
It should be no surprise then that it is the first thing many people think of to remove ice dams.
Apply 1 tablet on every sqft of problem area.
Contains 95 percent of calcium chloride and works down to 20 degrees f.
Rock salt contains corrosive oxidizing agents making it best suited for removing ice on harder surfaces like concrete.
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.
Rock salt can also leave permanent stains on your roof and walls.
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.
Look for roof melt tablets created with rock salt to quickly melt and scrape ice off your roof and other areas on your property.
Roofmelt tablet then melts its way down and settles on the roofs surface.
You should only use it on roofs in select circumstances like severe cold.
Melt is designed to quickly safely and effectively tackle frozen snow sleet and ice around your property during the winter season.
Begins working within 1 hour of application.
Comes in a 14 lb pail and is an estimated 60 pucks per container.
But if you ve let your ice dam fester for so long that you can t even get a credible ice dam company to help you because they re booked solid salt may help you emerge from your diy ice dam removal adventure as unscathed as possible.
However rock salt is a form of sodium chloride which corrodes metal including the metal nails holding your shingles in place.
But are they doing more harm than good.
Rock salt is common for de icing driveways and paths.
If you re dealing with heavy ice or snow buildup shop products that contain calcium magnesium acetate to begin melting the snow immediately on contact.