LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Employees with Smith & Miller Roofing based in Pittston are hard at work now that the snow has stopped falling here in Jenkins Township.
"We've been staying busy in the past couple of days, making sure that everybody is safe and taken care of and there's no leaks that are causing to buildings or houses that are then causing interior damage and making the issue worse," said Laura Rogo, the company's head of operations.
She says a good place to check and see if you have an issue is in the high places of your home or business.
"Check your attic before it gets down, the water gets down any further," Rogo explained. "If you see water coming in from your attic, or it'll be along the edges. A lot of the times, it'll come in around your pipe boots because the ice is building up, and the water is running down under your shingles. The last thing you want to do is wait to call in when water is in your kitchen."
Dyllon Rybka, with Northeast Roofing Specialists based in Shavertown, says you might be able to solve an issue before that happens by checking to see if your gutters have what's called ice damming.
"It's where the ice piles up actually right in the gutter. Doesn't let the gutter drain properly and then continues to build up on your roof, thus causing major issues down the line," Rybka explained.
He says taking care of this is not as expensive as you might think, especially because roofers like him don't have to remove all the snow from the roof.
"We remove usually four to six feet from the gutter up so that way the sun could actually hit it and let it melt properly," he added.
It is never safe to go on top of a snow-covered roof if you are not trained properly or lack the right equipment. Roofers also advise using extreme caution if you want to try this yourself. They say it's best to call someone with experience.
"It is very dangerous when you're pulling this much snow off because not only could you be pulling snow off, but you could be pulling ice off," explained Rybka. "That's why you'll see I usually have this fully extended, and I'm standing back while doing this for the simple fact that we don't want to get hit in the face, you don't want to get hit in the head, and that's one of the other reasons why doing this is because if you have a metal roof especially this is vulnerable to slide off if you don't have any snow protection."