Homeowners across Juneau County call about icicles. Icicles are cosmetic. The dam behind them, holding back standing water, is not. As part of our complete Juneau winter roof services, crews handle commercial ice dam removal across Juneau County.
Why Juneau Roofs Dam Up: Altitude Sun on a Deep Pack
Altitude makes the sun stronger and the air colder at the same time. A roof in Juneau can be producing meltwater on its south face at midday while the thermometer reads well below freezing.
Aspect decides everything here. The sunny plane sheds water that the shaded plane and the shaded eave then lock up, so one side of a roof in Juneau is clear while the other carries a wall of ice.
Ice-barrier practice in Juneau County
Mountain jurisdictions across Juneau County generally require ice-barrier membrane well up the roof plane, not just the first course, along with snow retention on metal roofs above entries and walkways.
Commercial Ice Dam Removal in Juneau: How The Work Runs
Flat roofs fail differently
A pitched residential roof dams at the eave. A commercial deck dams at its drainage: frozen scuppers, iced-over internal drains, and ponding that refreezes into a sheet across the low spots. Water then sits on the membrane at depth, finds a seam or a flashing detail, and comes through into the tenant space below.
Parapet walls make it worse by holding the melt on the deck instead of letting it run off an edge. By the time it shows up as a ceiling tile stain in a Juneau unit, there is usually standing water up there.
Multiple buildings on one site
Campuses, retail strips and multi-building properties get walked together and prioritized by which deck is closest to trouble, rather than worked in the order the calls came in.
One scope, one invoice, one contact. It is a meaningfully different job from nine separate ones.
Overflow scuppers are the tell
Water running out of an overflow scupper in winter means the primary drains are not taking it. On a Juneau building that is a sign the roof is holding standing water somewhere above a frozen drain, and the load is being carried rather than shed.
Scuppers are checked first for exactly that reason, and a dry scupper above a wet roof is as informative as a running one.
Roof warranties and who is allowed up there
Most commercial membranes carry a manufacturer's warranty with conditions about who may work on the roof and what methods are permitted. Snow removal is generally fine; mechanical ice removal very often is not, and the wrong contractor with the wrong tool can void cover worth considerably more than the clearing.
The warranty gets read before the roof is walked, and the method used is one the document permits.
Membrane-safe means something specific
EPDM, TPO and modified bitumen all tolerate steam at low pressure and none of them tolerate chipping, scraping or a pressure washer. Crews steam the drains and scuppers open first to restore flow, then work the ponded ice, and they stay off seams and flashing details with the lance.
Mechanical units, conduit runs, solar racking and safety railing all get worked around rather than over.
What you get in Juneau
- Overnight windows availableWork scheduled outside occupancy where access demands it
- Drains and scuppers firstFlow restored before the ponded ice is worked
- Tenant-hours schedulingWork windows set around occupancy and access
| Local ice-barrier practice | Extended membrane plus snow retention |
|---|---|
| Coverage area | Juneau and Juneau County |
| Primary climate stressor | Solar melt on deep pack, shaded eaves |
| Typical scope | Steam, 8-16 crew hours typical |
| Documentation | Dated before and after photos, written scope in Xactimate line items |
| Dispatch window | 24 to 48 hours in mountain terrain |
| Removal method | Low-pressure steam only. No chipping, salt or pressure washing. |
Neighborhoods and Towns We Reach From Juneau
Crews working Juneau cover the adjoining communities on the same route — Auke Bay and Douglas — so a storm week usually means one truck handling several addresses in Juneau County rather than separate trips.
Nearest hub towns with their own commercial ice dams pages: Sitka, Ketchikan, Valdez, Girdwood, Palmer, Wasilla.
Coverage runs across Juneau and the nearby towns all winter, and capacity is surged into whichever Alaska market the storm actually hits.
Most jobs do not stop at one service. Commercial Ice Dams in Juneau often runs alongside commercial roof snow removal in Juneau, and both get written into one scope rather than billed as separate visits.
Active leak right now? Our 24/7 Juneau steam ice dam removal crews are dispatched first during a freeze event. Call (888) 561-9664.
