Why Hudson Roofs Dam Up: Nor'easter Load and the Maritime Swing
Coastal snow is heavy with water, and a roof in Hudson can take a foot of it in a night. That pack is a full reservoir from the moment it lands, not something that becomes one slowly.
The building stock compounds it. A great many Hudson houses were built long before attic air sealing was a consideration, and the retrofits that followed often insulated the floor while leaving the bypasses wide open.
Ice-barrier practice in Hillsborough County
Ice-barrier membrane at the eaves is standard on re-roofs across coastal New Hampshire, and many towns enforce it strictly. Homes that have not been re-roofed since that became normal practice are the ones that leak first.
How a Hudson Steam Call Runs, Start to Finish
Nothing gets touched until the roof has been walked and photographed. The crew finds every dam, locates where water is getting in, shows you, and gives you the crew-hour rate and a time estimate before the equipment comes off the truck.
Removal then works from the worst point outward, so water starts draining early rather than at the end. Gutters and downspouts frozen solid get steamed through in the same visit — leaving them means the eave dams again within days.
Access, ladders and what the crew needs on site
Steam equipment needs somewhere to park within hose reach, and ladders need footing that is not a buried flower bed or a sheet of ice. Clearing a path to the affected eave, moving vehicles off the driveway and unlocking a side gate takes ten minutes and saves considerably more than that on the clock.
Where the only access is through a neighbor's property, that conversation is worth having before the crew is in the street rather than while it waits.
Why a drainage channel is not removal
Cutting a few channels through a dam so water can get past is quick and it is sometimes sold as ice dam removal. It drains the roof for as long as the channels stay open, which in a Hudson cold snap can be a single night before they close again.
Removing the dam means taking the ice off down to the shingle along the whole affected run, so the eave can drain the way it was built to. It takes longer and it is the only version that holds.
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.
| Typical scope | Steam, 4-10 crew hours typical |
|---|---|
| Pricing model | Billed by the crew hour, rate quoted before dispatch |
| Primary climate stressor | Nor'easters, rapid thaw-freeze swing |
| Service | Ice dam removal in Hudson, NH |
| Documentation | Dated before and after photos, written scope in Xactimate line items |
| Coverage area | Hudson and Hillsborough County |
| Dispatch window | Same day to 24 hours |
Neighborhoods and Towns We Reach From Hudson
Crews working Hudson cover the adjoining communities on the same route — Windham, Pelham, Litchfield, Hollis and East Derry — so a storm week usually means one truck handling several addresses in Hillsborough County rather than separate trips.
Nearest hub towns with their own crew pages: Nashua, Londonderry, Merrimack, Derry, Salem, Bedford.
Coverage runs across Hudson and the nearby towns all winter, and capacity is surged into whichever New Hampshire market the storm actually hits.
Active leak at an address in Hudson? (888) 561-9664 reaches dispatch directly. Interior water moves a job to the front of the day.
