Worries of Winter Weather

10/15/2018 (Permalink)

Winter weather can bring about more issues than just slippery roads and a sidewalk to shovel. If you live where temperatures sink below freezing level, you are also at risk for frozen pipes and ice dams, which can create a major disaster at your home or property. 

Frozen Pipes

Frozen pipes are often those exposed to the cold weather, such as those outside your house, or in cold areas such as basements, attics, garages, or kitchen cabinets.

A frozen pipe can burst at the point where the ice blockage inside the pipe is located, but typically the rupture is cause by the backflow pressure between the water source and the blockage. A burst pipe can cause considerable damage to your property if not addressed quickly. 

To prevent pipes from freezing, here are a few steps you can take, according to The American Red Cross:

• Be sure to completely drain water from swimming pool and sprinkler lines, as well as outside hoses.
• Open kitchen cabinets to let warm air near the plumbing.
• When the weather is extremely cold, let water drip from faucets that may come from exposed pipes.
• Keep your heat set to the same temperature both day and night.

Ice Dams  

Ice dams can be a little-known, but major problem during the snowy season. They form when heated air melts roof snow downward into water dammed behind still-frozen ice. When the trapped water cannot safely flow or run into the gutter system, it can backflow under the roof's shingles and into the structure's interior areas, as well as causing gutters and shingles to move or fall. 

Icicles can be an initial sin of an ice dam, according to Travelers.com. To spot ice dams inside, "check for water stains or moisture in your attic or along 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."

Removing an ice dam as soon as it is found is vital to helping prevent damage to your property and can be done using heating cables, a roof shovel, or calcium chloride ice melter. 

If winter weather causes water damage to you or your insured's property, SERVPRO of Patchogue is always a call away, 24/7, ready to restore to preloss condition.