Seasonal

Fall Roof Prep for Des Moines: Before the First Snow

By Des Moines Roof Repair · September 11, 2026 · 7 min read

The maples along Kingman Boulevard start turning in a few weeks, and the first measurable snow in Des Moines usually lands in November. Between now and then is the window for the work that decides whether you spend February watching icicles or watching a stain spread across the living room ceiling. Most of this you can do yourself from the ground and the attic. Here's the list, in the order it matters.

1. Clean and check the gutters twice

Once now, once after the leaves are down in early November. A gutter full of maple seeds and oak leaves freezes into a solid block in December, and that block is the first course of the ice dam. While you're up there:

• Run a hose and watch for standing water, which means the pitch is off or the hanger has pulled loose.
• Look at the fascia behind the gutter for soft wood or peeling paint.
• Check that downspouts discharge at least four feet from the foundation, and that the extensions are still attached.

Gutter and roof repair in Des Moines is one job more often than not: an overflowing gutter rots the fascia and the first sheet of decking behind it.

2. Look at the trees

Walk the yard and look up. Dead limbs over the roof come down in the first heavy, wet snow. The standing dead ash trees left behind by the emerald ash borer are the worst offenders across the older parts of the city, and silver maples drop big limbs in every wind. Have anything over the roof that's dead, cracked or rubbing the shingles cut back now, before the arborists are booked through January.

3. Go in the attic with a flashlight

This is the step that stops ice dams, and it's the one most people skip. An ice dam forms when warm air leaks into the attic, melts the snow above it, and the meltwater refreezes at the cold eave. Stop the warm air and the dam mostly stops. On a cool evening, go up and look for:

• Bath fans that end in the attic. Very common on 1950s–70s ranches in Urbandale and Windsor Heights, and on plenty of 2000s houses where the installer never finished the duct. Extend them through the roof or gable with insulated duct.
• Gaps around plumbing stacks, wires, the chimney chase and the top of interior walls. Foam or caulk them.
• Recessed lights poking through the insulation. Cover with fire-rated boxes and seal.
• The attic hatch. Weatherstrip it and put a piece of rigid foam on the back.
• Insulation depth. Central Iowa is climate zone 5; the target is R-49, roughly 16 inches of blown insulation. A ruler in the insulation tells you where you are. MidAmerican Energy has offered insulation rebates in the past; check their current list.
• Soffit vents stuffed with insulation. Pull it back and add baffles so air can move.
• Frost or water stains on the nail tips and the deck. Those are last winter's condensation, and they tell you where the air is getting in.

4. Look at the roof from the ground

Binoculars, a sunny afternoon, a walk around the house:

• Lifted or missing shingles, especially on the west and south slopes that take the wind
• Granules piling at the downspout outlets
• Cracked pipe boots (the rubber collar around a plumbing vent, usually near a bathroom)
• Caulk hanging off the chimney flashing
• Sags in the roofline or gutter

Anything on that list is a $250–$1,200 repair now, and a January emergency later. Our companion piece, roof repairs before an Iowa winter, goes through those in order of urgency. Shingle repairs seal properly above about 40°F, and the days above 40°F run out in November.

5. Buy a roof rake

A $40 aluminum roof rake with a 16-foot handle is the best roofing tool in Iowa. After every snowfall over four inches, pull the snow off the bottom three or four feet of the roof from the ground. No snow at the eave, no ice dam. It takes ten minutes and saves a $400–$1,000 steam removal call. If you've had ice dams before, buy the rake this month, not the week the icicles appear.

6. Check the heat cables, if you have them

If a previous owner installed heat cables along a problem eave, test them now. Look for cracked insulation, sagging loops, or a plug that trips the GFCI. Cables are a patch for a specific eave, not a plan, but a broken one is worse than none.

7. Know what an ice dam looks like

So you can act early: a ridge of ice at the gutter line, icicles forming behind the gutter rather than off its lip, and water stains near an exterior wall inside. If you see the ridge forming, rake the snow above it and call before it's a foot thick. The ice dam repair page covers what happens when the dam is already there.

Fall roof maintenance you should hire out

Some jobs aren't worth a ladder:

• Anything on a two-story roof. Leave the roof surface to someone with fall protection.
• Re-hanging gutters where the fascia is soft. The wood needs fixing first.
• Ridge vents and soffit work. Cutting into the roof is a roofing job.
• Tree limbs over the roof. An arborist, not a chainsaw on a ladder.
• Bath fan ducts through the roof. The duct is easy; the roof opening needs flashing and a proper vent cap.

A simple fall calendar

New to the house?

If this is your first fall in the house, you don't know its habits yet. Ask the sellers or neighbors whether it has had ice dams, which rooms have had stains, and when the roof was last done. Look at the inspection report from your purchase again and list anything it flagged on the roof, the gutters or the attic. Then do the attic step above with extra care, because a previous owner's shortcuts — a bath fan that ends in the insulation, soffits covered by new siding — are easiest to spot before the snow.

The short version

Gutters, trees, attic, ground look, rake. Two Saturdays in October. If the attic step turns up a lot — bath fans, thin insulation, no soffit vents — that's a bigger job worth pricing before the snow, and it will do more for your roof than anything on top of it.

Common questions

How often should gutters be cleaned in Des Moines?

At least twice a year: in late spring after the maple seeds come down, and in the fall once the leaves are off. Houses under big oaks or silver maples may need it more often.

Are gutter guards worth it?

They cut down on cleaning but don't end it. Some types let ice build up at the roof edge in winter, which can make ice dams worse. Ask how a particular guard handles snow and ice before you buy.

Can I do the attic work myself?

Much of it, yes: foaming gaps, weatherstripping the hatch and checking insulation depth. Leave wiring, and anything close to the chimney or a flue, to a professional, because those need specific clearances and materials.

When should tree trimming be booked?

As early in the fall as you can. Arborists' calendars fill once the leaves drop and again after the first heavy snow brings limbs down. Branches touching the roof or hanging over it should be cut back before winter, so wind and ice can't drag them across the shingles.