The Dearborn Problem Is the Thermometer, Not the Snowfall
An ice dam needs meltwater and a cold eave, and Dearborn supplies both on an ordinary week. A thin cover that melts by lunchtime and sets again after dark is a perfectly good dam factory.
The expectation is the problem. Nobody in Dearborn re-roofs with ice dams in mind, so when a cycling stretch arrives the houses with the least margin all leak in the same week.
Ice-barrier practice in Wayne County
Because ice is not the first thing a homeowner in Dearborn thinks about, the eave membrane is the detail most often value-engineered out of a re-roof quote. It is worth asking for by name.
The Dearborn Dispatch Process, Step by Step
Crews walk the eaves, valleys and gutter line first and photograph every dam and every point where water is tracking inside, before touching anything. You get shown what they found and quoted the crew-hour rate before work starts.
Then the ice comes off with low-pressure steam, starting wherever water is actively backing up so drainage opens early. Frozen gutters and downspouts are cleared in the same visit, because a cleared eave above a solid block of ice in the gutter dams again on the next cold night.
What steam actually does
A steam unit delivers water at roughly 290°F at a pressure low enough to rest your hand in the plume. It cuts a channel straight through the ice and lifts the dam off in sections, right down to the shingle. The heat does the work, not force, so granules, seal strips and flashing come through untouched.
That is the whole difference between steam and the hot pressure washers often sold as steam. A pressure washer cuts ice fast because of its pressure — and that same pressure strips the granules off asphalt shingles and drives water up under the courses. One method removes ice. The other removes ice and roof.
What gets photographed, and why it matters later
Before the lance comes out, the crew shoots the dam from the ground and from the roof, the icicle line, any staining visible inside, and the specific courses where water is tracking under the shingles. Timestamps are on every frame.
That record is the whole case if a claim follows. An adjuster arriving in March sees a dry roof and a stained ceiling; the photographs are what connect the two, and they are what a maintenance-exclusion denial runs into.
Why the dam formed in the first place
Ice dams are a heat problem wearing a weather costume. Warm air escaping into the attic melts snow on the upper roof; that meltwater runs to the eave, which hangs past the heated envelope and stays below freezing; it refreezes there, and the ridge of ice grows a layer every cycle. Removal is the emergency fix. Before the crew leaves you will know which part of your attic is feeding it.
| Typical scope | Steam, 4-8 crew hours typical |
|---|---|
| Coverage area | Dearborn and Wayne County |
| Pricing model | Billed by the crew hour, rate quoted before dispatch |
| Primary climate stressor | Repeated thaw-freeze cycling |
| Service | Ice dam removal in Dearborn, MI |
| Local ice-barrier practice | Eave membrane on new work, often absent |
| Removal method | Low-pressure steam only. No chipping, salt or pressure washing. |
Where We Dispatch Around Dearborn
Crews working Dearborn cover the adjoining communities on the same route — Melvindale, River Rouge, Ecorse, Allen Park and Wyandotte — so a storm week usually means one truck handling several addresses in Wayne County rather than separate trips.
Nearest hub towns with their own crew pages: Lincoln Park, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Southgate, Taylor, Ferndale.
Dearborn sits inside the regular Michigan service area, so a crew is usually scheduled the same day or the following morning.
Water coming in right now in Dearborn? Call (888) 561-9664. Active interior leaks go to the front of the schedule.
