Protecting Your Home from Icy Winter Storms

2/24/2017 (Permalink)

Ice Storm

You give your kids extra vitamin C at the first sign of a sniffle. Why? Because you want to protect the things that are dear to you. Similarly, you want to protect your home from the ravages of seasonal storms – especially ice storms. Ice storms are expected this time of year and that’s why St. Charles, Geneva, and Batavia residents add ice storm coverage to their homeowners and renters insurance. We know this is a smart move too. As the Tri-City’s most helpful storm damage restoration company, we are all too familiar with the damaging effects of ice storms.

Helping you to protect your home from severe weather damage might seem a little odd –after all, residential and commercial storm damage restoration are our business. But our hearts run deeper than our pockets, and we want to help our neighbors protect their home and all that is dear to them, even if it means not needing our restoration services.

Your SERVPRO of St. Charles storm damage restoration experts have compiled their best tips to help you protect your home from the season’s storms. Don't miss out on our past blog posts for more expert advice on fire and mold damage prevention too!

Trim and Prune Trees Regularly

Even the healthiest and strongest of trees will break under the weight of ice. Broken tree limbs account for much of the storm damage from icy weather in St. Charles. A tree limb encased in a block of ice can weigh hundreds of pounds and can easily crash through roofs and even crush a car.

Look for Escaping Heat

Escaping heat is often the source of icicles and ice sheets on your roofs’ edge. More widely known as ice dams, these curious ice formations can cause quite a bit of damage to your roof. Melting ice runs down and refreezes creating ice dams that block the flow of water off of your roof.

This accumulated water is often the reason that we get called for water and mold damage restoration services.

Prevent devastating effects of water damage to your roof by finding the source of the escaping heat causing the melt in the first place. Common sources include the chimney and even incandescent lighting fixtures in the attic.

Keep Up With Regular Chimney Cleaning

If you use your fireplace often, then you likely clean the chimney every winter. However, if you light up the hearth only when the weather drops to freezing and skip the regular upkeep, you could be putting yourself, your family, and your home in danger. Chimneys that are not regularly cleaned and inspected are fire hazards. When icy weather is in the forecast, be sure to clean out the chimney before using it.

Take Steps to Prevent Frozen Pipes

Frozen pipes are very likely to burst and cause water damage. Preliminary steps to protect against frozen pipes include disconnecting hoses and closing valves to prevent water flow between the indoors and out. Keeping a water faucet turned on to a slow, but constant stream also aids in preventing burst pipes and the need for water damage restoration.

There are several preventative steps you can take to prevent icy weather damage, but for everything else, there’s SERVPRO of St. Charles.

SERVPRO is the most trusted name in storm damage restoration in St. Charles, Geneva, and Batavia because we’ve worked hard to earn your trust. From flooded basements to soggy, collapsed ceilings to black mold creeping up your wall from water damage, SERVPRO has the expertise and eagerness to restore your home. Call us today and let us know how we can help.