Protect Your Home from Winter Weather

12/19/2021 (Permalink)

With the temperatures dropping and snow falling make the right decisions on keeping your home safe from fire and water damage this winter.  If you live in an area with harsh winters consider the following: 

-Make sure to clean your gutters every spring and fall.  If your gutters aren't clean snow melting off your roof will back up in your clogged gutters and potentially cause water to back up under your roofline.  The snow melting on your roof occurs when either the heat from the sun or heat from your house escapes and the attic warms the roof.  Snow then melts off the roof and refreezes making an ice ridge that traps water on your roof.  That water stuck in those ice ridges can leak into your home and can cause some serious damage.  To prevent heat from continuously ventilate the attic air.

-Plumbing...the dreaded frozen pipes! Plumbing located on exterior walls or unheated crawl spaces is most likely to be your culprit for a bursting frozen pipe.  All interior pipes should be insulated and exterior pipes should have weather resistant insulation for protection.  Don't forget to disconnect hoses from your outside water faucets.  If you believe there is a frozen pipe somewhere in your home, shut off the water main and call a plumber to resolve the problem before more damage occurs.

-Fireplaces and other indoor heating systems with poor maintenance can cause fire, puff-backs and smoke damage.  A fireplace is beautiful and keeps your home warm with low electricity bills but without proper care it can cause a house fire.  Clean chimneys and flutes on your fireplaces annually.  Get your furnaces checked once a year and keep space heaters 3 feet or the recommended length away from any flammable objects.  This includes window blinds/curtains, furniture, bedding, and decorative rugs.

-Take further precautions by changing your smoke alarms batteries every 6 months and don't forget to replace your smoke alarms after 10 years.

Not everything can be prevented but take the steps to prevent as much of the damage as possible.  Have a safe winter season.