Protect your Dallas house from ice damage.
Posted in
Home Repairs
on August 24, 2022
Protect your house from ice.
Winter storms are a real danger for Dallas homeowners that won’t be going away anytime soon. It’s easy to fall into a sense of false security and decide to take no action because you don’t think there’s anything you can do.After all, you can’t stop the weather. But giving up would be a mistake.
You can’t stop a storm from dumping snow on your house and coating its surfaces with ice. But you can stop that ice and snow from damaging your roof, gutters, ceilings, pipes, and concrete surfaces. You just need a little information, simple tools, and expert help.
We’ll tell you a few common problem areas on and around your house that are especially vulnerable to large amounts of ice and snow. We’ll also explain what precautions you can take before and after a severe winter storm to give your house reasonable protection.
Winter threats to your house
When the snow starts piling up, it’s best to head home and wait out the storm where it’s warm and safe. But you should also poke your head out and make sure that precipitation isn’t knocking down your home value.First, check out your roof. According to HomeAdvisor, snow and ice can add a lot of extra weight to your roof. Of course, you already knew that, but did you know that weight can put enough pressure on the roof to compromise your shingles, gutters, and support beams?
Get your snow boots on and grab your coat. Then, take a quick look at your roof to make sure you don’t have potentially dangerous amounts of snow and ice up there.
Weight isn’t the only danger to consider. Snow and ice melt can leak through your roof’s shingles and get inside the interior of your house. This threat is especially likely if water pools at specific points along your roof.
The water is more likely to gather in one spot when ice dams block its path to the ground below. Ice dams are just what they sound like – sections of ice that dam up water on top of your roof.
The longer a pool of water sits on your roof, the more time it has to seep through the shingles and inside your house. That kind of water damage can be expensive to fix if you have enough snowmelt trapped up there.
If you think you have too much snow and ice lingering on top of your house, call expert contractors to come out and clear it for you. It may be tempting to save money and do the job yourself, but we’d advise against that. Working on top of a roof is dangerous in the best conditions. It’s even more dangerous when you’re walking over snow and ice.
Plus, you could do more harm than good. Typical tools you have laying around the house that you might use to clear snow, like a snow shovel, can damage your shingles. Professionals have tools to help them clear your roof without doing unintended damage.
Contractors can also help by spotting other problems with the roof you might not have noticed otherwise.
Other winter threats
- Gutters – Your gutters are probably the next most common place ice and snow can hurt you. If your gutters are iced over or clogged with snow, they won’t do their job. When water starts running off your roof and tries to escape through the gutters, it won’t have anywhere to go. You’ll run into the same problem you had with the ice dams – pools of melted snow and ice seeping into your house. Look at your gutters when you go outside and make sure they’re clear and operational.
- Frozen Pipes – You don’t want your pipes to freeze. It’s not just a question of being able to wash your hands and cook. If your pipes freeze, they could burst. Then you’d have a plumbing problem to fix, or you’d have to pay a plumber to take care of it. According to Family Handyman, an easy way to prevent frozen or burst pipes is to leave your faucets dripping. The little bit of pressure an open tap leaves in the plumbing should be enough to stop the water inside from freezing. You could also consider insulating your pipes to have year-round protection from freezing temperatures.
- Snow & Ice-Covered Branches – Heavy tree branches are another danger to be especially wary of. If snow and ice cover a tree near your house, the branches could break, fall, and do significant damage. Get ahead of it. Go outside and cut down any branches hanging over your house if you think there’s a chance they could break and fall into your roof, porch, or windows.
- Damaged Concrete – This may not seem like that big of a deal, but snow-damaged concrete is also easily preventable. If you have concrete walkways, a driveway or a patio foundation, melting snow could worm its way into the gaps in that surface and make cracks. Then when the water in those cracks refreezes, it will expand and make the cracks even bigger. Eventually, your slab of concrete could split into two or more pieces. To preserve your concrete surfaces, you can fill their cracks before the storm arrives. You can also clear the snow off before it melts.
Snow & ice won’t stop us.
Preventing winter storm damage before it happens is your best bet. Remember to get ready before the storm comes and then do what you can to protect your house during and after.If all your efforts still end with ice or snow damaging your house, it won’t be the end of the world.
You can make repairs, or we'd be willing to look at your house if you don’t want to deal with it. We make fair cash offers on houses “as is”—there’s no need to spend time and money on repairs.
Snow and ice damage don’t scare us. We buy houses in nearly any condition. Contact us to learn more or leave us your information to get a cash offer.
