DeKok Insurance Group - DeKok Insurance Group, Inc.

How to Help Identify & Remove Ice Dams

February 14, 2019 By Jon DeKok

Joy and I recently had an ice dam on our home. This video and post from Travelers (one of the excellent companies I represent) helped me solve the problem before it became a much bigger problem.

Sometimes, even your best efforts to prevent an ice dam may not be enough. Knowing what an ice dam is, how to identify one and how to help remove it is important to protect your roof and home from potential damage during the snowy, winter months.

What Is an Ice Dam?

Ice dams may form when water from melting snow freezes into ice at the edge of your roofline. Without proper roof snow removal, the ice that develops may grow large enough to prevent water from melting snow from properly draining off the roof. When the water is unable to drain from the roof, it may then back up underneath roof shingles and make its way into your home.

Do You Have an Ice Dam?

Most ice dams develop on the edge of your roof, but they may also form in other locations, depending on the slope, orientation, and style of your roof. Be sure to monitor the weather and your roof for signs of ice dam formations.

Look closely at the icicles around the exterior of your house. If the icicles are confined to the gutters and there is no water trapped behind them, then an ice dam has likely not formed. Nonetheless, icicles can be a precursor to ice dams. Depending on their location and size, icicles may also pose a danger if they fall off. Whenever possible, and if safe to do so, remove icicles from the exterior of your home, making sure not to stand directly beneath them. If you cannot safely reach the icicles from the ground, consider hiring a contractor to assist in their removal.
Check for water stains or moisture in your attic or along the ceiling of exterior walls of your house. Water stains or moisture may be an indication that an ice dam has formed and water has penetrated the roof membrane.

How to Remove an Ice Dam

Removing an ice dam from your roof immediately after spotting the signs can be critical to help prevent damage to your home. One way to remove an ice dam is to melt it using calcium chloride ice melt.

Step 1. Using a roof rake, remove snow 3-4 feet from the edge of your roof, being careful not to damage the roof covering or to allow snow to build up around walking paths or to block emergency exits.

Step 2. Use a calcium chloride ice melt product, which you can generally purchase from your local hardware store. Be sure not to use rock salt or sodium chloride, which can damage your roof.

Step 3. Fill a nylon stocking with the calcium chloride ice melt.

Step 4. Safely place and position the calcium chloride-filled nylon stocking vertically across the ice dam so that it can melt a channel through the ice.

Step 5. Cover and protect any shrubbery and plants with lightweight tarps near the gutters or downspouts for the duration that the calcium chloride stockings remain in place. This is important because the calcium chloride-saturated water dripping from the roof may damage the shrubbery and plants.

REMEMBER: Using a ladder in snowy and icy conditions may be dangerous. If you cannot safely reach the roof, consider hiring a contractor.

Jon

DeKok Insurance Group, Inc. Referral Program: When you tell your family and friends about your positive experience with my agency, and they call for a quote, I’ll send YOU a $20 gift card.

Change of Address

November 2, 2015 By Jon DeKok

Our new address is: 1027 7th Street NW, Suite 208, Rochester, MN 55901

Jon here:

After five years working from our office out on Superior Dr. NW, Joy and I realized it was time for us to downsize.

Six rooms was five too many. After looking at our options, we decided to move to 1027 – 7th Street NW. We have a history with this building – not long after I started as an insurance agent, I had an office here.

Joy says it’s like coming home. I’ll let her tell you why she likes our new/old office.

Joy here:

As a kid, I lived not too far from here. We had our school picnics just down the road at Cooke’s Park. (My mom made the best baked beans!) My brother and I loved walking to JM Rockets football games on Friday nights – to get there, we walked past this building. Back then, it was new. It got exciting to come this way when they built a Burger King on the corner of 7th Street and 11th Avenue – right next door this building (then called The Lexington Building). Walking home from a football game meant stopping for fries and a shake or on special nights – a flame-broiled Whopper.

Today, there’s a Taco John’s next door. I haven’t been there and don’t know what the Great Steak Escape is all about. Maybe someday. It’s very cool that we’re within walking distance of Nupa and Hunan Garden. And on really nice days, I will pack my lunch and head for Cooke Park.

Part of my delight in being here is the past. The other is the present.

We had talked about downsizing, but we put it off for awhile because it would mean a move. Not our favorite thing to do. At all. We knew we’d know when it was time, and we did.

Going from six rooms to one felt very right to both of us, and it is. We enjoy this space.

The only thing that has changed is our address.

Jon is still just a phone call (507-226-8121) or an email ([email protected]) away. If you stop by the office, you can come in the front door, straight up the stairs, and take a sharp right. But it’s easier to park and come in one of the back doors. We’re in Suite 208.

Until Next Time,

Joy

DeKok Insurance Group, Inc. Referral Program: When you tell your family and friends about your positive experience with my agency, and they call for a quote, I’ll send YOU a $20 gift card.

[tweetthis]DeKok Insurance Group Change of Address! #New/OldOffice #Independent Agent #RochesterMN[/tweetthis]

[tweetthis]DeKok Insurance Group: We moved. #Downsizing #RochesterMN #IndependentAgent[/tweetthis]

[tweetthis]We moved! #NewAddress #Independent Agent #RochesterMN #DeKokInsuranceGroup[/tweetthis]

New Email Address at DeKok Insurance Group, Inc.

April 22, 2015 By Jon DeKok

We have a new email address! Please feel free to send your questions and requests for quotes to [email protected].

I look forward to hearing from you,

Jon

DeKok Insurance Group, Inc. Referral Program: When you tell your family and friends about your positive experience with my agency, and they call for a quote, I’ll send YOU a $20 gift card.

Your Farm Insurance – Why It Matters to Us

February 12, 2015 By Jon DeKok

Why does your farm insurance matter to us? For starters, Jon was raised on a farm between Hayfield and Stewartville in the Rock Dell township. Being a city girl, the farm fascinated me. I followed Jon’s dad around and asked him questions about cows, crops, and tractors. He taught me to drive his big John Deere and I baled hay with him and one year when he was injured, I helped prepare the fields for planting. It was a big deal to me because Dad DeKok trusted me with his tractor and his land.

To Jon, the farm was where he grew up, parked his first car (yes – it was a very cool 1970 Dodge Charger), learned how to work hard, and witnessed many of the personal and business principles he applies to life everyday.

It’s the place his heart will always call home.

These days Jon and I live on thirty-five acres and rent out around 15 to a local farmer. Like Jon’s dad, the crops planted and grown are soybeans and corn.

Although they aren’t our plants, we watch them and every year we’re amazed that one seed produces such abundance.

These are just a few of the reasons your farm insurance matters to Jon. And why we’re both excited that he’s added Nationwide® to the list of companies he represents. As the #1 farm insurer in the country, they understand that your agri-business is also your home.

So does Jon.

Why not give him a call and find out what he, and Nationwide®, can do for you? Jon will give you a quote and explain the coverage in detail. Call 507-226-8121 or email him at [email protected].

If you’d like us to send you out a brochure first, please either leave a comment here on the blog, or email Jon at [email protected] to request more information. The song says “Nationwide® is on your side. . .” and so is Jon.

Joy

Have you signed up to receive updates from DeKok Insurance Group? If not, and you’d like to, there’s a place to do that in the upper right of this page.

DeKok Insurance Group, Inc. Referral Program: When you tell your family and friends about your positive experience with my agency, and they call for a quote, I’ll send YOU a $20 gift card.

[tweetthis]Why does your farm insurance matter to us? #MNInsurance #IndependentAgent #FarmInsurance[/tweetthis]

[tweetthis]It’s the place his heart will always call home. #FarmInsurance #MNIndependentAgent[/tweetthis]

Value, Trust, & Client Loyalty at DeKok Insurance Group

July 25, 2014 By Jon DeKok

Joy Here:

Perkins North is Cheers for Jon and Me.

When Jon went into the insurance business over thirty years ago, he was a busy man. We had very little time together and needed at least one catch-up a week. He called one day and asked me to meet him for lunch at Perkins. We had so much fun, as we were leaving he said, “Let’s do this again next Tuesday.”

For over twenty years we did and sometimes we still do. When we walk in, the hosts and waitresses know our names. We know theirs, and a little about their lives. They’ve read my books, told me about their children, and they have our favorite foods memorized. When they changed the Tuesday specials a few years ago, they were concerned about how to tell us!

Why Perkins?

1. We like the food. (Value)

2. We love the staff. (Trust & Loyalty)

Because we’ve received a good value (the food), and the staff welcomes us and gives us excellent service, we go back for more. If I were to hear a complaint about “our” Perkins, my internal dukes would rise, and I would defend them. We’re loyal regulars.

Jon and I have experienced something similar here at DeKok Insurance Group. Our clients tell us they stay, in part, for better insurance coverage and often lower rates (Value), but more important to them is the relationship they have with Jon as their independent agent. (Trust & Loyalty)

Because I’m Jon’s wife, you probably think I’m biased. I am. But as a consumer, I want an agent who knows insurance, can help me find the right insurance products for my needs, and who I can trust to be loyal to me before a company.

Buying insurance is about value, trust, and loyalty. All three are available to you at DeKok Insurance Group, Inc.

Jon Here:

In the purchase of insurance, we have so many choices. This is good! However, it can be overwhelming. At DeKok Insurance Group, Inc. we work with some of the best insurance companies in the world and are familiar with the coverage’s they offer.

So, how does this help you?

We make it easy to compare and save money with better coverage.

Because we are independent, we can and always will be loyal to you. We are not limited by just one company or insurance policy. We are able to match your needs with the best coverage.

There are three components to being insured. Price and the coverage are very important; however there is a third component that makes it better: your agent.

As your agent, I am available to answer questions, re-quote and compare coverages with you, take care of the paperwork, and in general be here for you. Because of this, you’ll know I will also be here for those you refer to me.

We are all looking for better value. You have it with DeKok Insurance Group, Inc.

Thank you!

Jon

Phone 507-226-8121

Email: [email protected]

Tell your family members and friends about your positive experience with DeKok Insurance Group, Inc. If they call for a quote and tell us you sent them, YOU will receive a $20 gift card from us.

[tweetthis]Value, trust, client loyalty. #DeKokInsuranceGroup #IndependentAgent #RochesterMN[/tweetthis]