13 Easy Steps to Protect Your Home From Water Damage This Winter

Now is prime time to assess the interior and exterior of your home to make sure water & the damage it can cause don’t put the Bah humbug treatment on your holiday season. Avoid headaches and costly repairs by learning to recognize potential problem areas before water damage can begin. A small amount of water can cause considerable damage to your home. When water finds its way into your property through the basement, the roof, a faulty pipe, or appliance leak - the result is often extensive damage and mold growth. 

According to the Insurance Information Institute about 1 in 50 insured homes has a property damage claim caused by water damage or freezing each year. While homeowners’ insurance covers many losses, it doesn’t cover all of them. And, most of the time, these problems require professional water damage restoration services. A better solution is to prevent water damage from occurring in the first place. Here are a few easy steps to keep old man winter at bay:

• Clean and maintain gutters and downspouts. If there is debris in your gutter, water may overflow onto the side of your house. In your gutter cleaning routine, check for cracks or sagging, and have them repaired.

• Make sure downspouts extend at least 10 feet away from your home’s foundation. The ground around the foundation should also be sloped at least six inches over a 10-foot span away from the house to avoid basement flooding

• Install a sump pump with a battery backup system. Maintain and test the sump pump according to the manufacturer’s instructions and remove any debris that may block the water inlet screen. Replace batteries every two–three years.

• Close all cracks, holes, and openings in outside walls and foundation near water pipes with caulk.

• Have your roof annually checked for cracked or missing shingles, deteriorated flashing, pooling water, and missing granules.

• If you live in an area where ice dams are possible, remove the snow on your roof when it is approx. 6” deep. Use a roof rake or a brush with a long handle to remove snow without using a ladder.

• Insulate water pipes in unheated areas, such as the crawl space, basement, garage, attic, and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Wrap them in insulating materials such as foam rubber or fiberglass sleeves.

• Allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing when outside temperatures drop below 32 °F by opening kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors. Move the products stored in these cabinets up, out of the reach of children and pets.

• Faucets that connect to pipes in unheated spaces are prone to freezing. Let cold water drip from the faucets served by exposed pipes. Running even a trickle of water through pipes helps prevent them from freezing.

• Set the thermostat to the same temperature during the day and at night. Your heating costs may rise, but you’ll prevent pipes from freezing and bursting.

• If you’re leaving home for more than two days, leave the heat on in your home. Set the temperature to no lower than 55 °F. Shut off the water supply and drain pipes and appliances that use water. In addition, have someone you trust check your home once per week.

• Maintain all household appliances that use water. Continual, slow leaks can cause serious damage and homeowner’s insurance policies usually don’t cover water damage that occurs over an extended time period due to lack of maintenance.

• If a pipe bursts, shut off the water supply to your home immediately.

Winter will be here before we know it and Killarney Metals the necessary solutions to keep your home safe from water damage for the upcoming season and beyond! Check out our NEW Water Transfer Pump as well as our full line of drip & drain pans, Leak Alert Device, & more at KillarneyMetals.com or call toll-free (877) 801-7417 8:30 AM - 5 PM EST, Monday through Friday for assistance.