Our crews do ice dam removal across Edina, MN with low-pressure steam, from the streets around Southdale Center and Centennial Lakes Park to the borders with St. Louis Park and Richfield. We melt the dam down to the shingles so meltwater drains off the roof, and we answer the phone 24/7.
Removing an ice dam in Edina, MN means steaming the frozen band from the roof edge, and the ice packed behind it, so snowmelt drains instead of backing up under the shingles. We do it with low-pressure steam. In a city whose median home was built in 1971, warm air lost through the ceiling is often what starts the melt.
The attic over heated rooms
University of Minnesota Extension says that in many homes, warm house air escaping up to the attic is the main reason ice dams form. Census data shows half of Edina's housing was built in 1971 or earlier, and gaps around ceiling lights, bath fans and attic hatches are where warm air usually slips through.
The cold eave and gutter
The NOAA climate normals (1991-2020) at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport count 147.3 days a year when the low reaches 32°F or colder, and only 72.3 days when the high does too. On the rest of those freezing days the afternoon climbs above 32°F, so the eave melts by day and refreezes overnight, and each cycle thickens the dam.
The whole roof above living space
Extension researchers say a dam forms when snow covers a roof whose upper part is above 32°F while the edge stays below it. The airport normal is 51.2 inches of snow in a winter, and on a low-pitched roof much of that sits there until the next thaw.
We handle four situations on Edina roofs, and each ends with water running off the eave again. The same crews run our statewide ice dam service, where the full process is laid out.
When water is coming in, our crew opens a narrow channel in the dam right above the leak first so the trapped water has a way out. Extension guidance says such a channel only helps for a few days, which is why we go on to clear the whole dam.
One-story and split-level houses often have long, low eaves where a dam can run the full width of the house. We run the steam hose up from the driveway and work along the edge in sections until the shingles show again.
Where a porch or addition roof meets a taller wall, drifting snow piles up and drains slowly. We steam back the ice by hand over valleys and around skylights, because the flashing sits right under it.
The Census counts 12,987 of Edina's 24,071 housing units as detached houses, so nearly half are attached or multi-unit buildings. For associations and property managers we work shared eaves one unit at a time and note which roof sections carried the thickest ice.
Three local facts shape how we plan the visit and what you should ask for once the ice is gone.
Some Edina homes carry a Minneapolis mailing address, because Census ZIP data shows 55410 crossing the city line, and the same happens along the St. Louis Park border. Tell us your city when you call, since the city line, not the ZIP, decides which building department handles any roof repair later.
The City of Edina Building Inspections requires a permit for roofing, siding and windows. If a dam has lifted shingles or soaked the roof deck and they need replacing, photograph the damage for your insurer before that work begins.
Minnesota's residential code requires ice barrier underlayment from the lowest roof edge to a point two feet or more inside the wall line. Ask whether your last re-roof included it, and make it part of the next one.
Tell us your city, the kind of roof and whether water is already showing inside.
Call (612) 471-2509We cover every Edina, MN neighborhood in Hennepin County, and other Minnesota cities we cover are listed on one page.
Across Edina
St. Louis Park houses run a little older than Edina's, with a 1965 median build year and 2,361 homes that predate 1940.
Minneapolis has a 1951 median build year, twenty years older than Edina's, and the two cities share the 55410 ZIP along their border.
Farther southwest in Scott County, Shakopee has a 1999 median build year and puts re-roofing on its list of permit-required work.
Edina, MN homeowners usually ask us about price, insurance and timing.
Most of the price is the time a crew spends steaming. National cost surveys put an average-sized roof at two to three hours of steaming, and most contractors bill a two-hour minimum. Our homepage lists typical Minnesota cost figures.
Usually not. MPR News reported that insurers generally pay for water damage from ice dams but treat removing the dam as maintenance, and the homeowner pays the deductible first.
Late winter. Twin Cities normals show 12.1 thaw days in February and 25.1 in March, so ice built up in midwinter starts pushing water inside as March thaws arrive. Our guide covers the peak weeks of ice dam season.
Seal the attic air leaks first. Extension researchers call attic air leakage the leading cause of dams in many homes, so sealing around lights, fans and hatches matters most. Our guide covers preventing next winter's dams.
If water is showing on a ceiling or the eave ice keeps growing, call and tell us where. For emergency ice dam removal we open a drainage channel first, then clear the remaining ice along the eave. Our phone is picked up 24/7, nights and holidays included.
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Call (612) 471-2509