Ice causing gutter concerns

You usually think about cleaning your gutters as a fall activity. But this time of year ice can block and damage your gutters and your home.

Snow on the ground has steadily melted away over the past couple days.
    
It's also melting above our heads, on roofs and into gutters.
    
But many times runoff from your roof isn't staying liquid.

“It'll freeze up in the gutters, it'll back up onto the roof system, and the water has nowhere to go. So it'll eventually start working its way underneath the shingles, and where the shingles are nailed down, or where the boards are split or any of this stuff, it'll leak into there,” said Donald Zoeller, owner of All American Roofing & Siding.

Zoeller says it's dangerous to clear snow from your own roof, so you should have someone do it for you.
    
It is a little pricey, a couple hundred bucks, but it's less than the thousands of dollars in damage that could be caused by icing problems.

“And what do you do with that problem? Once you start getting mold in the house or your drywall is getting wrecked or your carpeting is getting wrecked, the problem is too late. The damage has already occurred,” said Zoeller.

And gutters aren't the only place to look for the ice backups. Skylights, ventilation pipes, and valleys are all areas prone to ice buildup.
    
It's a case where a little prevention can go a long way.
    
With rain on the way Thursday night, it's probably too late to clear your roof of any remaining snow.
   
One thing you can do is try to clear the ice out of your gutters so they can effectively drain any runoff.