Winter Weather brings Frozen pipes & Water Damages to clients in Scarsdale, NY 10583 homes & businesses
With overnight temps in the teens this week througout Westchester County, NY, I am resurrecting my blog from two COLD winters ago. That's when we had many frozen pipe victims calling for help cleaning up and restoring their home and a few businesses -- they had water damaged floors, carpet and area rugs. We will extract the water and try to save your carpet or area rugs and wood floors.
But, if you wait too long to get us there in under 48 hours -- check your insurance policies that probably say "get help" and do due diligence, or call your broker -- and then, call Debbie Gartner to replace your flooring or carpet at The Flooring Girl!
Below are some tips to insulate and protect your pipes on exterior walls from freezing, now that we seem to live in the Arctic. Global Warming is truly here, people - Wow. This means that our weather and temps are more extreme in both directions -- cooler winters and hotter summers, and not just warmer weather overall...that's a misnomer.
So, bundle up, drip your water if you leave over the holidays / New Year celebrations and look below for how NOT TO NEED US to remove water and flooding from your home. Watch out for ice damming on your roofline too, with this weeks snow and a blizzard on the way this weekend! Your attic or upper levels can have water damage from backed-up, melting ice from under the shingles...
(WINTER WEATHER BLUES ~ HOW TO AVOID FROZEN
PIPES AND ICE DAM RELATED WATER DAMAGES IN
HOMES & BUSINESSES ~ IN SCARSDALE NY 10583)
PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR
WINTER WEATHER WATER ISSUES ~
Tips for Preparing Your Home for Winter
It's been a pretty mild winter so far, but if our recent two feet snow storms in Scarsdale, NY were any indication, we may have severe weather on the way. Here are some things you can do to avoid an ice or water damage in your Scarsdale home:
- To protect your home from a frozen pipe water damage, keep cabinet doors open during cold spells, especially on sub-freezing nights. This allows warm air to circulate around pipes.
- Keep a slow trickle of water flowing through faucets, especially if the pipes for faucets run through unheated or uninsulated areas of your home.
- Consider shutting off outdoor faucets. Find the shut-off valve in your basement or crawl space, and turn it to “off .”
- If you follow the previous step, then open the outdoor faucet and ensure that it drains completely and that the inner valve is shut off.
- Ensure that your gutters are clean and secure. Leaves and debris accumulate, causing a damming effect on gutters and that could lead to roof problems and water damage, during ice and snow storms.
- Proper maintainance of your furnace can help reduce the risk of puffbacks, when oily soot "blows back" from oil boilers and it covers every surface, nook and cranny in your home or business. (Please see my blog from earlier this month on soot puffbacks).
PREPARE YOUR BUSINESS & PREVENT INJURIES
Tips for Preparing Your Business for Winter Weather
- Check your business property for snow, ice and winter weather threats -- like downed tree limbs and branches, plus trees that overhang your roof and parking area. Weather, such as wind, heavy rain, ice and snow, can cause branches to fall and damage your property – and, potentially, could cause personal injuries.
- Inspect your property, especially walkways and parking lots, for proper drainage that will alleviate flood and icing hazards and lead to injuries. Get someone in to pre-treat any risky areas before and after a storm.
- De-ice and inspect all handrails, stairwells and entryways, then address and correct potential slippery or hazardous areas. Install mats or non-slip surfaces inside doorways and post caution signs, especially when water and snow melt may be present.
- - You can call us at Servpro of Scarsdale / Mount Vernon and have us start an Emergency Recovery Plan for your business, to get you back and at work thanks to pre-planning for storm, fire and water damages. A quick recovery from such situations keeps businesses going.
FROZEN PIPES
A frozen pipe can burst at any point in a pipe where there is frozen water and an ice blockage. But, typically the rupture is caused by the backflow pressure between your main water source (pipe) and a blockage. A burst pipe can cause considerable damage to your property, especially if it’s not addressed quickly, once you turn off the water.
Call our water cleanup company or someone who IS water certified can quickly dry your structure, prevent future mold growth and make your water damage “Like it never even happened.”
ICE DAMS
Ice dams on our roofs and gutters can be a major problem during the winter season. They form when heated air melts roof snow downward into water that is dammed behind still-frozen ice from you gutter and roofline. When the trapped water cannot safely low or run into the gutter system, it can backup under your roof’s shingles and then melt into the structure’s interior. Be sure to have your gutters cleaned seasonl, especially after the trees lose their leaves each year.
Our Servpro and water certified companies like ours mitigate many water damaged properties every year because of ice dams. It’s a top level to lower level flooding threat, so clear the bottom of those gutters that come down vertically from the roof at your home or business, usually on the corner of the structure. By clearing your gutters annually and moving frozen ice that blocks the bottom of your gutters and letting them drain, you can help prevent this frustrating property damage issue. Either way, companies like ours help you get your structure back to its pre-water and ice damaged condition.
FLU SEASON
Help prevent the spread of flu germs in your home and/or businesses can depend on their local SERVPRO® Of Scarsdale / Mount Vernon to clean and sanitize building materials, surfaces and contents. We follow restoration industry standards and guidelines. We use professional cleaning products and EPA-registered cleaners and disinfectants. SERVPRO® Of Scarsdale / Mount Vernons are also trained and equipped to clean your HVAC and duct systems to help provide better air quality and help reduce the risk of circulating harmful contaminants.
~ So, be safe out there during this winter season that's been warm so far, but snow is on the way, along with some freezing temperatures. Whether your home or business needs some preparation for upcoming ice or snow related weather, do what you can to prepare and keep your family and customers safe. A bit of ice melt vs. concrete damaging salt can go along way to prevent slip and falls, while you'll want to clear away any icicles, as they can be a hazard for those entering and leaving your building.
Whatever you do, try to enjoy the "winter wonderland" after a fresh snowfall in Scarsdale, NY and be careful out there.
~ Hillary & Forrest Sheperd
TIPS FOR FROZEN PIPES & ICE DAM WATER DAMAGE ~ in SCARSDALE NY 10583 Homes & Businesses
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