How Not to Remove Ice Dams

This time of year, ice dams in your gutters can be a huge problem. They can cause your roof to leak and cause substantial damage to your home. As experts in ice dam steaming in Minnesota, we have seen some different ways people have tried to remove ice dams. Here are a few ways you should never attempt to get rid of ice dams. You should always call on professionals like us for our ice dam steaming services.

Never use a sharp object like an axe or ice pick instead of ice dam steaming. Not only could you hurt yourself with this type of tool, but shards of ice could fly back and hit you on the face and cut you. Plus, climbing a ladder when the ground underneath is icy is very dangerous.

In some hardware stores, you can find a product called roof melts. These are tablets you put in your gutters that are supposed to safely and effectively melt the ice. However, it can be difficult to toss these tablets onto your roof, which would require you to climb a ladder again. And sometimes, depending on the slope of your roof, these tablets can slide all around, which makes them difficult to place properly.

Some do-it-yourself-ers try a pair of old pantyhose filled with salt. You fill up the pantyhose with a de-icer like rock salt and then toss that up into your gutters. While it might be easier to make sure the pantyhose is in place than the roof melts, when the outdoor temperatures drop again, the water could refreeze and totally negate the effects of the pantyhose.

It's best to trust professionals like us when you need ice dam steaming!

To learn more about ice dam steaming in Minnesota, call Total Home Exteriors at 612-388-7795 or you can get a Free Estimate.

Ice Dam Steaming Benefits

When it comes to ice dam steaming, it’s best to leave this difficult and dangerous task to professionals like us. We offer ice dam steaming services in the Twin Cities, and there are several reasons you should call us to perform this task rather than trying to do it yourself.

First of all, professionals like the ones here at Total Home Exteriors know the safest way to access your roof and gutters, even if there is still some snow and ice on the ground. You should not assume this risk yourself if you are not a trained expert like we are.

We also have all of the tools we need to safely perform the ice dam steaming service. We use a steamer, not a power or pressure washer, to safely remove the ice without causing further damage to your roof or your gutters. We will never use a hammer or ice pick to get rid of the ice dams.

All of our technicians are fully trained in the proper way to perform ice dam steaming, so we are all familiar with ice dam steaming best practices.

And when you hire us, we do the hard work so you don’t have to. You get to stay safely on the ground and in the comfort of your own home while we are outside taking care of this chore.

Ice dam steaming is incredibly important in order to make sure your roof doesn’t leak. Roof leaks can cause a great deal of damage to the interior of your home if left unchecked. Plus roof repairs and repairs to your home’s walls and ceilings can get quite expensive.

Save yourself the hassle by hiring us for ice dam steaming!

If you want to learn more about ice dam steaming in the Twin Cities, call Total Home Exteriors at 612-388-7795 or you can contact us for a Free Estimate.

Replacement Windows: Affordable Energy Efficiency

If you're looking at saving money, one of the things you're probably looking at is how energy efficient your home really is. One of the best ways to increase efficiency is with Andover replacement windows. In a recent article about replacement windows, it said:

"If you shop around, you can find high efficiency, Energy Star-rated replacement windows that come with 20 years to lifetime warranties that fit your budget."

Compared to a few, short years ago, replacement windows are much more affordable, and if you're looking for a budget-friendly way to keep your heating and cooling costs as low as possible, then consider having your windows replaced with energy-efficient ones.

Read the entire article: "Replacement Windows: Energy Efficient and They Fit Your Budget."

The Benefits of Replacing Your Windows

If you're thinking about home improvements to be made, where do replacement windows rank on your to-do list?  It may be the No. 1 thing to do if your old windows have become deteriorated or non-functional, or you may be putting them off in favor of something else. Replacement windows may be something you want to give more consideration to if the reasons for home improvement are to improve your home's energy efficiency or just to make updates that improve its worth.

Energy Efficiency
The most popular Minneapolis replacement windows are made of vinyl, which are strong and offer great energy savings. They are also resistant to heat flow, which helps you in saving on costs associated with heating and cooling your home.

Affordable resale value
Replacement windows are more affordable than they have been in recent years, and this affordability is an easy way to increase the resale value of your home. It's a win-win situation!

Low maintenance
Many of the vinyl windows on the market never to be scraped, painted or stained, and are often nearly 100% scratch free. So, no matter how your old windows get, they'll be able to look great. 

Choosing the Perfect Roofing Company

There are few components of your home more important than your roof. It protects your home from the elements, and helps to protect you and your family. So, when your roof is in need of repair, it's important to know how to find the right Andover roofing company. We discussed, in an article a while back, how to find the perfect roofing company, and noted:

The good thing is, hiring a professional roofing company is not terribly complicated. Like with lots of things, speak to good friends, family and neighbors to find out who they recommend. You should also look into any roofing contractor's experience and work ethics by looking them up on sites such as Angies List, the BBB and your neighborhood home builders association.

Like anything else, finding the right roofing company will require a little bit of research. The Internet has provided us with a great resource for vetting contractors and companies to see if they do the quality of work as they say they do, or if they're just blowing hot air. By asking around and search for the company on the Internet, you're more than likely going to find information on them - good and/or bad.

Read the entire article: "Roofing Contractors: How to Choose the Perfect Roofing Company."

History of Vinyl Siding

It's not uncommon to drive through a housing development today and see dozens of homes clad with vinyl siding. In terms of exterior protection, vinyl siding is a great choice for not only guarding your exterior against the elements, but also adding extra insulation to keep your home's air temperature more consistent.

In terms of home exterior types, vinyl siding is actually not that old. The first vinyl siding products were introduced in the late 1950s, though it was not originally intended to be a standalone product. Instead, it was just used on homes that had aluminum siding that needed to be replaced.

This changed in the 1970s. A vinyl siding industry began to take hold, and technology allowed for faster production and more siding colors to be produced. This led to a growth in the industry, and in the number of homes that made use of vinyl siding as an exterior cladding.

Today, more homes have vinyl siding than any other exterior material, with the current market share sitting at around 32 percent. Vinyl offers ten times the life expectancy of a wood exterior, and and is much more affordable when compared to other types of exteriors.

Interested in having Coon Rapids MN siding installed on your home? Call Total Home Exteriors today at (612) 388-7795.

Unique Siding Uses

When you think siding, it's almost a certainty that you'll think of your home's siding and the protection it provides your exterior. But did you know that there are some other, not-as-common uses for siding also? For other structures on your home or on your property, siding can not only work to protect the exteriors of those, but can also help them blend in with the home and the rest of the landscape, as well.


Depending on the home you're at, you might see a chimney surrounded by siding. This helps protect the chimney's exterior from being damaged, which lets the chimney operate more safely.


For instance, here is siding on a shed. The addition of siding to this structure actually makes it look less like a dirty place for tools and other items, and more like a miniature home. It also helps match the look of the shed with the look of the home on the property.


Here's an interesting use of siding; on a dog house. As you can see from the siding on the dog house as well as the siding on the much larger home behind it, the two match. This helps bring the two separate items on the property together visually.

You, too, can have brand new Coon Rapids MN siding installed on your home... or chimney, or shed, or dog house. All you have to do is call Total Home Exteriors today at (612) 388-7795. You can also obtain a FREE siding estimate by completing our online form.