De icing a flat rubber roof at downspouts

[momof5boys]

I'm trying to prepare myself for when it starts to freeze a bit more here. We have a flat rubber roof and I just want to know if Sifto ice salt would be safe enough to use on the rubber roof just around the downspouts to keep the spouts from freezing and water backing up when thaw begins. It wouldn't be for long term because we generally don't get a lot of freeze ups here.

[blueeyetea]

I wouldn't, just because salt corrodes. I mean, think of your boots. They need to be cleaned every time you come in the house.

I suspect that if your downspouts back up, it's because they're blocked. Do you have icicles hanging off them in the winter? It could mean poor insulation in the roof.

[momof5boys]

No, never had icicles at all in the winter. We did have one time a number of years ago that we had a huge snowfall and then it froze that night leaving the downspouts blocked with ice. Then it suddenly warmed up and rained and the water had no where to go - we didn't know this was actually happening until the garage roof was leaking good and proper. So I'm just wanting to be a little proactive here and have stuff on hand in case I need to put anything by the drain spouts for thawing. Any suggestions if I can't use salt?

[blueeyetea]

I personally think the only way you could prevent it is shoveling the snow off the roof if there's a lot of it. In slanted roofs, people can install these wires that will make the snow slide off, but that obviously wouldn't applicable in your case.

[ErinBr1802]

I would call professionals, Last year the husband of the lady living 2 doors away from mine felt from his roofs and he had a broken shoulder and broken ribs.
An accident happen so fast and can ruin your life.

Have a merry Christmas,
Erin

[momof5boys]

Well, thankfully the weather is much milder and no ice on the roof before the rain sets in. There have been winters that I have been up on the roof many times shoveling and I'm not going to miss that when we move!

[beckie.c]

Since we had ice dams last year we are picking up Safe Paws Ice Melter for our downspout from Pet Value. Its a non-salt alternative that is safe for pets paws and their website says safe for roofs/gutters. I'm still going to put it in panty-hose so it just sits in the gutter not on the shingles.