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Ice Dam Water Damage in Appleton, WI
The gutter is blocked solid, the ice above it is melting, and the water is finding a way into the house: a stain on the ceiling, paint bubbling on an outside wall. You are also wondering whether a roofing company or a gutter company would do it for you. Ice dam water damage in Appleton is two jobs. Someone removes the ice. Someone else dries the ceiling, the insulation and the wall cavity before they grow mold. We are a referral service for the second job and do no work ourselves. Call (920) 672-1283, press 1, and we connect you with a restoration company serving Appleton.
Call (920) 672-1283Last updated October 6, 2026
How to tell it is an ice dam
Focus on Energy, Wisconsin's utility efficiency program, lists the signs: icicles at the roof edge or gutter, ice coming through the soffit, ice behind the gutters, and water or ice on the outside wall. Inside, the same program describes what follows when water backs up under the shingles: stained ceilings, warped windows, buckling floors and collapsing drywall or plaster.
The mechanism is simple. Snow sits on the roof. Heat leaking from the house warms the upper roof above freezing while the eave stays below it. Meltwater runs down, refreezes at the cold edge, and builds a ridge. The next meltwater pools behind the ridge and works back under the shingles.
Why Appleton roofs do this
The ingredients are snow and a long cold spell, and this city gets both: 49 inches of snow in an average winter and 84 inches in the winter of 2010 to 2011. In March 2026 a single storm left 27 inches in three days, a record for the Appleton station.
The housing adds to it. Story-and-a-half houses, of which Appleton's older neighbourhoods have a great many, put bedrooms directly under the roof slope with little room for insulation between the ceiling and the shingles. Those are the roofs where the snow melts in stripes.
Call and we'll connect you with a restoration company serving Appleton.
Call (920) 672-1283Job one: the ice
"Everyone wanted $650 an hour with a three hour minimum"
That is what one Milwaukee homeowner reported being quoted on Reddit for ice dam removal, and a Madison homeowner reported $500 to $600 an hour with the same minimum. It is specialist work, usually done by roofers with low-pressure steam equipment. Nobody should take a hammer, a hatchet or a pressure washer to your shingles, and you should not be on an icy roof yourself.
What you can do from the ground: pull snow off the lower few feet of roof with a roof rake, and put a bucket and a sheet of plastic under the drip indoors.
Who to ring
A roofing contractor that offers ice dam steaming. Some restoration companies do it as well. When you are connected through our line, ask whether the company removes the ice or only handles the interior, so you know whether you need a second call.
Job two: the water inside
This is the part that gets skipped, because once the dripping stops the ceiling looks like it only needs paint. Above that stain is wet insulation lying on the back of the drywall. The Environmental Protection Agency's guidance is that materials dried within 24 to 48 hours will, in most cases, not grow mold. Wet insulation in a closed slope does not dry in 48 hours unaided.
Expect moisture readings on the ceiling and the top of the wall, removal of insulation that is soaked, drying equipment for several days, and then repair. Ask for the readings in writing. In a house built before 1978, also ask how the company handles lead paint, since Wisconsin's lead-safe renovation rule applies once more than 6 square feet of painted surface in a room is disturbed.
Ready to speak with a restoration company serving Appleton?
Call (920) 672-1283Insurance: better news than for a basement
In its January 2019 cold-weather notice, Wisconsin's Office of the Commissioner of Insurance said that water from the top down, and it named ice-dam seepage behind drywall as an example, is generally covered by a homeowners policy. It added one caution: a roof that was already in poor condition before the event may affect coverage for ice damage.
The cost of removing the ice itself is a separate question. Ask your insurer before you assume it is included.
Photograph the ice on the eave before it is removed, as well as the damage indoors. It is the proof of cause.
Stopping it next winter
Wisconsin's health department notes that home performance consultants can find the structural causes of moisture problems "such as ice dams". The lasting fix is in the attic: sealing the air leaks that carry heat up, then insulation and ventilation. Heat cables treat the symptom.
Questions homeowners ask
Do you think a roofing company would do it for me or a gutter company?
A roofing company, and specifically one that offers steam removal. A gutter company may not have the equipment. Ask what method they use before they come out, and decline anyone who plans to chip the ice off.
The dripping stopped. Do I still need to do anything?
Yes. The water that came in is still in the insulation and the top of the wall. Have it checked with a moisture meter. If it reads dry, you have lost nothing. If it reads wet, you have caught it before it turned into a mold job.
Will it happen again?
Very likely, in the next winter with deep snow and a long cold run, unless the heat loss into the attic is dealt with.
Water coming through the ceiling?
Call and we'll connect you with a restoration company serving Appleton. Press 1 when asked and have your zip code ready.
We are a referral service, not a contractor. The line is open 24 hours a day, every day, and your call is connected to an independent restoration company that serves Appleton.