Cold Winter Weather Conditions May Cause Plumbing Issues
December 27, 2011
The inevitable sub-zero temperatures heading your way this winter could put a kink into your home’s plumbing. Freezing pipes are a very common wintertime occurrence and more so in houses which feature old or poor insulation. The pipes making up your plumbing system can freeze whenever the thermometer dips below the freezing point but you need to be especially cautious when the extremely cold temperatures strike.
As a homeowner living in a cold climate, you should know what conditions cause pipes to freeze and how to take care of plumbing issues that may crop up. Unfortunately, every winter in the United States, thousands of homeowners wake up or return home to find that the pipes inside their homes froze, burst and spilled hundreds and even gallons of icy cold water into their homes. Imagine how horrified you would feel if that were to happen to you. Plus the expenses which come along with such a home disaster can lead to financial ruin.
One thing you can do to prevent a pipe from freezing and bursting is to allow a small trickle of water to run out of faucets as moving water cannot freeze. You also can open cabinet doors to allow pipes to receive warm air. If you have exposed pipes in crawl spaces or your basement you should purchase a pipe insulation kit from a local hardware store and apply it to those pipes.
Even a modern, well-insulated home can experience a horrendous water leak from frozen and burst pipes. However, this problem usually only arises when the heating system fails during cold weather and no one is around to take notice. It is often the homeowner who is away on vacation that this happens to because the furnace can die, the power can go out or the fuel supply can be shut off somehow and he/she is not there to know it. The best way to avoid this happening to your home this winter while you are away is to have a friend or neighbor go to your house every day or two to make sure everything’s alright.
Be sure to leave your contact information with that person and give him or her the number of the heating system service company you use. If you cannot find someone to check your home,then you should shut off the water supply. This way, if a pipe does break, it will only spill out a few gallons of water and not thousands.
Roof Damages Caused By Snow and Ice
December 13, 2011
Roof damage is a common problem for people living in regions and countries with heavy snowfall, especially where winter is the predominant condition. The main cause for this is the heavy annual snowfall and the large amount of snow accumulation on house roofs, etc. The resulting ice deposits on roofs end up damaging the roof by either causing leakage or excess weight problems. Not only is roof damage caused by snow and ice dangerous, it is also an expensive and lengthy process, often wrecking your home and causing major, irreplaceable damage.
If you have seen icicles hanging from roofs or shingles of houses, you’ll probably have an idea of how ice accumulates on rooftops during winter. This water and snow damage causes a lot of destruction to both outer and inner structures of homes of people living in colder regions. Outer damages are one thing, but destruction of walls and inside of your house are not only expensive to repair, but also annoying. The reason this happens is because the heat trapped inside your house escapes upwards towards the roof and makes the accumulated ice or snow melt.
Generally, any accumulated water would flow down your roof and drain away, but during winters, the flowing water refreezes again due to the cold climate, turning into ice and ending up clogging the drainage pipes. This phenomenon is called an ice dam, which is basically a hardened ridge of snow that forms on the edge of your roof, acting as a dam that prevents anything from draining away through the gutter. Ice dams are generally formed when the outside temperature is below freezing point as averse to the internal temperatures that are above freezing point.
This temperature difference often heats and melts the residual water, causing it to want to escape through any means, and because spouts and drainpipes remain clogged with ice, the water seeps inside your house through any present cracks or gaps, not only damaging walls, peeling off plaster or paint, but also causing major structural damage. The trapped internal heat is either transferred via conduction or convection. Conduction heat transfers through solid materials, often the heat trapped by attic ceilings, insulating material, etc. Convection heat spreads into the air through exhaust pipes, heaters, recessed lights, etc.
Removal of ice dams is generally expensive because if you try to do it yourself and damage your entire roof you’ll have to pay not only for ice removal, but also to rebuild your roof. But if you don’t want to spend a lot of dough and yet want to prevent snow damage, following a few simple tips will help. Use a pantyhose or stocking filled with calcium chloride and place it all over the ice dam. This will melt the ice slowly and allow it to drain off without spoiling your roof.
Make sure you seal all gaps around the attic or ceilings are filled and increase your home insulation and ventilation capacities, letting the heated air escape properly, rather than destroying your roof in the process. Don’t try to chisel out solid ice from pipes if you are a novice. Call professionals. They know what to do and they’ll rid you off permanent headache without actually causing any damage to your home.
