It’s impossible to say until we see the ice dam with our own eyes.  There are a lot of factors that might affect the speed of the job.  These factors include whether your ice dam is composed of black ice or white ice, how much snow the ice dam is buried under when we get there, and other challenges Mother Nature might throw at us.  As you may expect, it’s easier and faster to remove ice dams when the weather is warmer.

But we can tell you most jobs average 2-4 hours.  We’ve never seen any job take less than 2 hours, which is why we have a 2-hour minimum charge.  You may be one of the unlucky ones whose job takes even longer.  All we can do is promise you we’ll do everything we can to protect your pocketbook while protecting your roof.  We never take longer than we have to, but we never cut corners, either.

Yes.  Steam is the only safe way to remove ice dams.  If a company tells you they use anything other than steam, there’s a good chance they’ll cause major problems for your roof, your home, your wallet, or all three.

We also use shovels and snow rakes, but only to remove the snow from your roof so we can get down to the ice dam.  That’s the best way to remove the loose, wet snow that would take forever to steam away.  Once it’s time to remove the stubborn ice dam itself we put our state-of-the-art steamers to work.

All our steamers are customized inside and out by our resident pocket-protector-toting engineer.  Our steamers are hot enough to blast the ice away, but gentle enough to preserve your shingles.   That’s why custom-fabricate each and every steamer we own.  We call each one SteamZilla.

Yes.  Also, we have the right kind of insurance policy.  Many so-called ice dam professionals technically have insurance, but what they don’t tell you is that they’re only insured for their summer businesses, and not for their winter business (ice dam removal).  That means they’re flirting with a claims denial – and your financial hardship – when something goes wrong.

We have a general liability policy that specifically covers ice dam removal services.  This protects you in the unlikely event of any accident, injury, or damages while we are on your property.  Our professionalism, equipment, and experience means that nothing’s likely to go wrong, but we take the “belt and suspenders” approach and spare no expense.

Yes: We have a 2-hour minimum charge because we’ve never seen ice dam removal take less time than that.  It can take us half that time just to get all of our equipment set up safely and remove the snow that’s covering your ice dams.  We’d be happier than a basket of kittens if we could get every job done in 2 hours

No.  That’s because “free estimates” are a dishonest marketing gimmick in this line of work.  Nobody can even give you an accurate estimate about ice dam removal costs until his feet are on your roof.

We have to shovel the snow away and look at the ice that’s stuck on your shingles.  We need to see what kind of ice it is, how thick it is, and whether it’s worked its way under your shingles.  That means we’ve done about an hour of work before even we know what we’re dealing with.

Some companies will insult your good sense and try to give you an estimate anyway.  They’ll pull a number out of the air, or they’ll give you their average job time.  Then they’ll get up on your roof and tell you they just “didn’t know” about your “special case.”  They’ll act surprised, but they knew they just wanted to get their foot in the door.   They know that at that point you won’t send them packing.  They know that your house is leaking, and they’ve got you over a barrel.  They’re counting on you to be one of the suckers.

We’ll tell you the truth, even if it’s not what you want to hear.

Once you’ve booked an appointment with us and understand there’s a 2-hour minimum, we’ll send a technician out to you.  He’ll clear the snow off your ice dams, come down from the ladder, and tell you what he found.   Although we’ll give you a rough guestimate of time, we’ll also make it clear that we don’t know for sure.  Of course, we’ll go as quickly as we can while still being safe.

We want to help as many homeowners as possible, so we go far and wide.  We serve all of Anoka County, Carver County, Chisago County, Dakota County, Hennepin County, Isanti County, Ramsey County, Scott County, Sherburne County, Washington County, and Wright County.

We even send guys out into parts of Wisconsin, including Pierce County, Polk County, and St. Croix County.

Sometimes we even range farther – when Minnesotans are all set but people elsewhere need our help.  We went to New England in early 2015, when Mother Nature dumped 9 feet of snow on Connecticut and Massachusetts.  (The snow pile in Boston didn’t melt until July.) But our hearts are right here in the Twin Cities, and so are our Ice Dam Guys.

First, we’re specialists.  All winter long, ice dam removal is all we do.  This means we actually know almost everything there is to know about ice dams.  We say “almost” because you never stop learning in this business.   Our vast knowledge of ice dams and many years of experience allow us to be smarter, faster, and better-suited to help you

We never cut corners.  We only use state-of-the-art steamers, and we invest heavily in making sure we offer the very best equipment.  We spend tens of thousands of dollars each year maintaining, improving, and updating our equipment.

We also make sure we’ve got two of everything on every truck, because we don’t want to have to stop helping you just because a piece of equipment breaks.

We also work to help you prevent ice dams.  We do this both through educating our neighbors here in the Twin Cities and by offering a host of ice dam prevention services.

We never make promises we cannot keep.  We give you honest answers and recommendations.

We’re respectful and courteous.  Your friendly and clean-cut tech comes to your house in uniform.  He won’t leave a single cigarette butt in his wake.  If not for your ice-dam-free roof and un-leaky home, you’d never know he was there.

We have enough techs to make sure the job gets done.  But we’re not a big corporation that won’t treat you like a Minneapolis friend and neighbor.

Reach out to us.  We think you’ll find that we’re a breath of fresh air.  You’ll feel confident knowing we won’t damage your roof, we won’t spend any unnecessary time up there, we don’t try to get our foot in the door, and we get the job done right.