How To Prevent Winter Water Damage Part 1 of 4

Winter water damage can be caused by a variety of weather events but also sometimes by a lack of proper maintenance to your house or commercial property. Our goal is to help you focus on areas of preventative maintenance in order to prevent flood damage from affecting your property this Winter.                                                                                                                                                        

Clear Gutters and Downspouts 

Water always needs a place to go and will always choose the path that follows gravity and allows it to flow freely. So, if your gutters or downspouts are not clear you can quickly have a problem. Ice dams can also be formed around your gutters and downspouts so when temperatures drop way below freezing for several days in a row you want to check them and clear them. If a heavy rain or thunderstorm occurs while you have ice dams this is a quick way to experience water damage to your property. 

 

Turn Off Outside Water Valves

Every year we receive multiple calls for water damage restoration because a garden hose faucet wasn’t turned off and the value closed and the water drained out of the pipe. Burst pipes can easily occur when the water is not drained out of the pipe leading to your garden hose.  The sad part is you won’t know that this has happened a lot of the times unless you regularly use your basement.  If the pipe bursts while you are away at work or sleeping at night this can cause a significant amount of water damage to your home or commercial property.

 

Proper Insulation

When temperatures dive below freezing and a Polar Vortex brings extremely cold temperatures over several days your property will be tested. When this happens the “weakest link” of your property is normally the part that will have a failure. Oftentimes this is caused by a lack of proper insulation.  Crawl spaces, sprinkler pipes, small rooms or areas that don’t get enough heat can quickly lead to frozen pipes that will burst creating a substantial amount of water damage and flooding. If this happens on the top floor of your property all of the floors below can experience water damage if the burst pipe isn’t discovered quickly and the water turned off.

Let AfterCare Restoration provide the Professional Water Damage Mitigation You Need

 

Call 24/7 AfterCare Restoration 215.515.1000

No matter how well you take care of your home or commercial property water damage can still occur. If you experience water damage, call the water damage restoration professionals at Aftercare Restoration for FAST 24/7 Emergency service.