Ice Dam Water Intrusion — Kaysville, UT
| Loss Type: | Category 1 Water / Ice Dam Roof Intrusion |
| Location: | Kaysville, UT near Hazel Street |
| Response Time: | 44 minutes |
| Job Duration: | 5 days |
| Insurance: | Yes – Travelers |
The Situation
During a heavy snowfall followed by a rapid temperature drop in February, a homeowner near Hazel Street in Kaysville, UT noticed a growing water stain on their master bedroom ceiling and water running down the interior wall near the window. An ice dam had formed along the roofline above the bedroom, trapping meltwater behind it. The meltwater had backed up under the roof shingles and entered through the roof deck, running down through the insulation and ceiling assembly into the bedroom below.
The homeowner called our water damage restoration team at 6:45 AM. Our crew was on-site by 7:29 AM. A roofing contractor was called simultaneously to begin ice dam removal from the exterior.
The Problem
Ice dam roof intrusion losses present a layered drying challenge because water enters from above and travels down through multiple assemblies — roof deck, attic insulation, ceiling drywall, and wall framing — before becoming visible inside the room. By the time a ceiling stain is visible, moisture has typically already migrated well beyond the visible boundary.
Inspection with a thermal camera confirmed moisture had tracked from the ceiling stain laterally across approximately 80 square feet of ceiling drywall and had run down inside the exterior wall cavity on the north-facing wall. The bedroom carpet along the exterior wall was also saturated at the base. Attic inspection revealed that blown-in insulation directly above the affected area had absorbed a significant volume of water and would need to be removed to allow the roof deck and ceiling assembly to dry.
The Travelers insurance claim was filed the same morning and the adjuster was on-site that afternoon.
What We Did
We coordinated the sequence of work carefully — the roofing contractor needed to remove the ice dam before interior drying could be effective, since active meltwater was still entering while the dam remained. Once the exterior was cleared, we began the interior scope.
We removed the saturated blown-in insulation from the affected attic bay, extracted water from the bedroom carpet, and removed the wet ceiling drywall across the full moisture-affected area — approximately 80 square feet — to expose the ceiling joists and allow the roof deck above to dry from below. The exterior wall drywall was removed at the base to expose the wet bottom plate and allow the wall cavity to dry.
The drying system included:
- 2 LGR dehumidifiers — one in the bedroom, one in the attic space above
- 4 air movers directed at the open ceiling joists, exposed roof deck, and wall base cavity
- Attic drying tent system to concentrate airflow across the exposed roof deck
- Twice-daily moisture readings on roof deck, ceiling joists, wall framing, and subfloor as part of our structural drying protocol
The roof deck required the full 5 days to reach target moisture content due to the volume of water it had absorbed. Ceiling joist and wall framing readings reached target on day 4.
The Outcome
The roof deck dried completely without requiring replacement — a significant cost saving. The ceiling drywall replacement and a section of bedroom carpet were completed under the Travelers claim. New blown-in insulation was installed by the homeowner’s contractor after drying was confirmed. We included attic air sealing recommendations in our final report to reduce the heat loss that had caused the ice dam to form — addressing the root condition rather than just the symptom.
“They showed up before 7:30 in the morning in February and coordinated everything with my roofer so nothing fell through the cracks. They checked the attic, not just the ceiling, and found way more water than I expected. Everything was handled and documented perfectly for Travelers.”
— T. Brockbank, Kaysville UT
Related Projects in This Area
For other winter weather losses we have handled nearby, see the frozen pipe burst in South Weber and the storm-related water intrusion we handled in Kaysville.