Returning from a mid-winter vacation, I walked up to the front of the house and noticed the mother of all ice dams on the roof. A place that sometimes gets a little ice, now sported a huge, real impressive hunk of ice along with a host of thick icicles, some hanging nearly to the ground.

Oh-oh. Something indoors had to have changed during my absence to cause this.

I dropped the luggage at the door, kicked off the snowy boots and proceeded to the second floor. I went immediately to the place in the house near the ice dam and looked for a cause. Then I saw the culprit --- the attic door was slightly ajar.

That was all that was needed to allow warm air to flow from the interior of the house into the attic space. That warm air melted the snow high on the roof, the snow melt ran down and then froze again on the cold edge of the roof creating an ice ledge with ice icicles. As more snow fell, more snow melted and more ice was made. Presto, a gigantic ice dam, and all it took was a week.

I closed the door and secured it. But that's like the proverbial "locking the barn door after the horses are out." The ice dam has to go, because behind it is snow melt waiting to leak into the house.

Lots of folks have their cherished remedies: ice pick, decier in hosiery, blow dryer (!). However, this dam needs professional help, I'll call in the roof steamers. In a matter of minutes it will be safely melted away, releasing any water while saving the shingles from harm. It's spending hundreds of dollars in ice removal instead of thousands of dollars in roof and interior repairs.

STAR TRIBUNE, Star Tribune

This is the second time a vacation surprise waited for me on my return. (Mentioned in an earlier post is the time a bird fell down the plumbing vent pipe causing a basement overflow.)

Have you experienced any surprises when you returned home from vacation? Any advice for those looking for ways to avoid such events?