Winter Storms can cause property damage

2/2/2020 (Permalink)

This customers basement flooded with almost 3 ft of water due to a broken pipe

Winter weather can bring about more issues than just slippery roads and sidewalks. In Gloucester Township, winter temperatures can drop below the freezing level, making your home or business at risk for frozen pipes and ice dams, which can create a major disaster to your 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 caused 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 help prevent pipes from freezing, here are a few steps you can follow:

-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 sign of an ice dam, according to Travelers.com. To spot ice dams inside, “check for water stains or moisture in your attic or along the ceiling of 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 heated cables, a roof shovel, or calcium chloride ice melt.

If winter weather causes water damage to your property, SERVPRO® of Blackwood / Gloucester Township Professionals are only a call away at 856-227-7800 and we can restore your property to preloss condition.