How To Prevent Winter Property Damage

Prepare the Outside of Your Home to Prevent Winter Property Damage

• Clean Out Your Gutters: Remove trapped sticks, leaves and debris from your gutters to allow melting ice and snow to flow freely. Cleaning out your gutters will help to prevent ice damming, which occurs when debris blocks water from draining properly through the gutters resulting in potential water damage.
• Inspect Trees and Trim Branches: Extreme winter weather can cause dead or weak branches to become brittle and break. Prevent winter property damage by inspecting the trees on your property and safely cutting away branches that are hanging over your home.
• Prevent Freezing Pipes: As the temperature gets colder, unprotected water pipes often freeze and burst resulting in water damage. Take preventative measures to protect your pipes from winter property damage.
  
• Inspect Your Roof: Damaged and loose shingles can lead to water damage during the winter months. Inspect your roof for signs of damage to prevent winter property damage. Don’t forget to inspect downspouts to ensure water is directed away from the home.

Prepare the Inside of Your Home to Prevent Winter Property Damage

• Inspect Your HVAC.  Before using your HVAC this winter, have it inspected by a professional. Residential heating systems need to be serviced once a year to prevent fire damage and smoke damage.
• Add insulation to basements, crawl spaces and attics. Insulation helps to prevent heat from escaping the home and causing ice and snow to melt. The winter weather may cause the ice to melt and refreeze leading to ice dams that can damage your roof. Adding insulation to your basement and crawl space will help to protect pipes from freezing.
• Inspect Pipes. Compromised pipes can freeze and burst when exposed to the winter weather. Inspect pipes for signs of cracks and leaks to prevent water damage. It is important to know the location of your pipes and how to shut off the water in case of emergency. If pipes burst, turn off the water immediately to prevent further water damage.
• Have a Backup Energy Source. Power outages occur and it is important to have a back up energy source on hand. Consider purchasing a portable power generator to keep you warm, help to prevent frozen pipes, or a frozen battery operated sump-pump that lead to further winter weather damage.