We all know that snow and ice can be damaging to our homes, but what are the best ways to prevent this damage? Is it inevitable, or can a homeowner take action to prevent it from occurring?
Protect Your Home From Melting Snow
It is possible to avoid damage from melting snow. Here’s a look at how to do it:
- Clear wood areas: Snow settles onto wood, and, if left there, it can create lots of damage. That goes for the wood along the threshold of your front door and garage door as well as for wood decks and other wooden surfaces at your home. You don’t want to wait for the snow to melt only to find a surprising amount of damage. Take action to clear away snow and ice, and make sure your wooden surfaces remain damage-free through the coldest months of the year.
- Clear gutters and downspouts: In fall, make sure to keep your gutters and downspouts clear of leaves and other debris. If your gutters and downspouts are filled and overflowing, melted snow won’t be able to run through and down them. If melted snow isn’t able to drain properly from your roof, it can cause a great deal of water damage. Make sure to take care of this clearing task before the first snowfall of the winter.
- Clear roofs: Invest in a snow rake and use it to clear your roof before snow melts. This helps prevent the aforementioned water damage that can occur. Also, lots of snow can get pretty heavy on top of your roof. In time, this weight can reduce the integrity of your roof and cause more serious issues. Take the time to remove snow before it melts, and help prevent costly repairs that can come if you choose not to.
- Fill foundation gaps and cracks: When frozen precipitation finds its way into gaps and cracks in your foundation, it can expand and contract as it freezes and melts — which of course leads to foundation damage. Before the season of frozen precipitation, consider having a foundation company come and fill these gaps in order to prevent costlier damage down the line.
- Promote general drainage: The reason we need drainage around our homes is that water can be incredibly damaging — and we need efficient paths for it to travel away from the home. If you don’t have gutters and other home features that promote drainage, it’s time for you to consider them. While it costs money to have gutters installed, this initial cost is far less than what it takes to repair water damage to your roof and other parts of your home. Drainage also helps with ice dam prevention. Ice dams form when winter precipitation freezes at the edge of a roof, preventing drainage of anything upslope from the ice dam. Ice dam removal helps you gain better drainage and avoid damage from melting snow.
- Safety first: No matter what you do, always operate with safety in mind. For example, many of these tips include getting up on your roof, sometimes when that roof is covered with winter precipitation. Don’t get on the roof if there’s any chance of slipping and falling, and make sure you’re always taking all possible precautions. Nothing is worth an injury or a risk to your life.
Trust Quality Overhead Door for Your Repair Needs
Need help fixing water damage to your garage door or entry door? It’s always a possibility when you live in the Toledo area.
When you do need support for your garage or entry door, call on the team at Quality Overhead Door. Since 1982, we’ve been serving Toledo area homeowners with garage door repair and similar services. When you need installation, repair or maintenance for a garage door, entry door or storm door, count on the knowledge and experience you’ll find at Quality Overhead Door.
Contact us today about your installation, repair or maintenance needs.