How to Prevent Water Damage to Your Home

What you need to know to protect your home from cold weather water damage ,

​Winter can be a dangerous time of year for your home. Water can infiltrate your home and cause damage once the temperatures dip below freezing. Water pipes can freeze and burst, ice dams can form on your roof, and melting snow can infiltrate your home. Spend the colder months staying warm and bonding with family and friends instead of worrying about the risk of water damage. Consider this list of things that you can look out for and prepare against before the temperatures get too cold.

Preventing Your Pipes from Freezing

In the winter months when the temperatures begin to dip, your water lines become increasingly likely to face catastrophic failure. Water lines that run along outside walls, in attic spaces, or inside of crawl spaces are the most vulnerable to the cold. You will also need to pay close attention to any outside faucets that are not rated for the cold temperatures. If your pipes become cold enough to freeze than it is likely they will burst, like a frozen can of soda pop. This is especially likely for outdated and poorly installed plumbing pipes. Here are a few ways to help you prevent that from happening.

• If any of your faucets supply lines are at an elevated risk of freezing, then you can keep a small stream of water running through them. Even a small steady stream is usually enough to keep the faucet and its water lines from becoming frozen. Keeping the water moving through the pipe will help keep it from freezing.
• Take a good look around your home’s exterior and foundation for sources of infiltration and leaks. Look for cracks or holes which you can seal with silicone. Look for any gaps or obvious points of entry through your siding. If you have an access hole to your crawlspace, then you can seal it up for the winter to help keep the moisture and the cold air out.
• Insulate all the visible water lines, even if they are under your home they can still freeze. You can find a pre-made pipe insulation at most big box stores that will help prevent your pipes from freezing. This may be all the difference that you need this winter.
• Opening cabinet doors that have plumbing behind them will let the warm air from your home circulate around the pipes helping to keep them warm. Remember to put all the chemicals and cleaning materials up where children and animals are unable to bother them.
• You should leave the temperature in your home set at the same temperature through the night as you do the day. If you are lowering the temperature at night, your house may cool off, making it harder for your home to stay warm. Leaving it at one temperature will assure your home stays warm and making it less likely that your pipes are will freeze.
• If your pipes do freeze, then you should shut the water off to your home immediately and call a certified repair company.

Ice Dams

Ice dams form when warm air from your attic melts the snow along your roof. The water rolls down into the eaves of your roof where it is cooler, and it can refreeze. Or the water can pool up around clogged gutter systems where it will freeze over and prevent the water and snow from leaving the roof. This leads to water potentially seeping up under your shingles and can causing damage to your roof. You will need to prevent or correct this problem to avoid having potential issues in the future. Here are some ways to help prevent it.

• You should clean and inspect your gutter system regularly to assure that the melted snow can easily roll off your roof and away from your home in a safe and proper manner.
• Installing gutter screens to make sure that your gutters remain clean and clear. Having gutter screens installed will help prevent any future blockages in your gutter drains.
• Make sure that you have an appropriate amount of insulation in your attic. The warm air in your attic is what causes ice dams. Making sure that it is well insulated and not allowing excessive air to leak from the living space is one of the best ways to prevent this issue.
• Make sure that there is proper ventilation in your attic. There should be soffit vents that allow cold air in at the bottom of the attic and roof vents near the peak that allow the warm air to escape. Your attic space should be around 5 to 10 degrees warmer than the temperature outside.
• Removing the snow on your roof once it gets deeper than 6 inches. Excessive snow build-up can put too much pressure on your roof, it can cause the water to seep under the shingles, and it will take much longer for it to melt away.
• When you have a new roof installed you can have a water membrane installed under the roofing which will help prevent any water from being able to leak inside.
• You can also have a snow shield installed with your roofing to help protect your home

When the Snow Melts

When spring arrives, you may have a ton of melting snow to deal with. This can cause a whole list of problems itself. Water will try and seep through your foundation and into your home if you allow it. Here are some ways to avoid this problem.

• Clearing the snow off your roof before it starts to warm up too much. This will prevent ice dams from forming and keep your roof in a better condition for spring without the worry for repair.
• Check your basement regularly for any water seeping through the foundation or burst water lines. You may not realize that a waterline has burst until it has already caused serious damage. Regularly inspect your drain lines and make sure they are not leaking, this can also quickly become a big issue.
• Keep your gutter drains clear and pointed away from your home or into your sewage system. Make sure they currently and continue to drain correctly and are not pooling the water up next to your foundation.
• Shoveling the snow away from your foundation before it melts will help keep a lot of that water and moisture away from it before it has time to seep into your home or potentially cause foundation issues.

What Else Can You Do to Prevent Water Damage

Sometimes there are less obvious things that you may need to do to help your home whether in the cold months. Here are a few things that will help make it a little bit easier.

• Disconnect any outdoor hoses. This will prevent them from freezing and breaking the hoses. Once the hose is disconnected from the faucet it will allow you to turn it on just enough that it can avoid freezing. You can also insulate it to try and avoid having any issues.
• Keep an eye out for condensation in your homes. As your heater runs and warms up your home, you may notice that windows, pipes, or maybe even walls have condensation forming on them. This can be a sign of an issue; you will need to lower your homes' humidity by mechanical means or by fixing the issue that is causing the excess in humidity. This could be a sign of a water leak infiltrating your home.
• If there are areas in your home where you are concerned that a leak may happen, like around water lines, water heaters, sump pumps, or drain lines. You can buy and install moisture alarms to alert you if excessive moisture becomes present.
• It is a good idea to look over your water lines yearly to ensure that there are no leaks that you should correct before the cold weather arrives. An already leaking water line is far more likely to burst once the temperatures get below freezing.
• You can also purchase sewer back up insurance. Most insurance plans will not cover it if your sewer backs up into your home. With the excessive amount of water draining into your sewage system from the snow melting it can easily overcome the capabilities of your system. Leading to it backing up into your home and causing much more serious issues.
• Keep an eye on your old water heater is another thing that you should do throughout the winter months. The cold weather can put more pressure on your old water heater which can cause it to leak. Having to heat colder water than normal, longer hotter showers, and more time inside your home puts a lot of strain on older water heaters. 

Who Do I Call a Restoration Professionals

What do you do when the worst has happened, and you have water damage in your home? Whether you have some water seeping down a wall from the attic caused by an ice dam, or if you have a flooded basement from a frozen and burst water line, you need to call a professional company. A company that can guide you through the entire process from incident to restore. Call GTA Restoration today and let them help you get back to normal