Any season can pose a risk of water damage. But winter water damage can catch you by surprise if you don’t take proper precautions.
Water damage in winter is usually caused by frozen pipes that burst. Heavy snowfall can also flood attics and basements. When undetected, it can result in ceiling water damage, mold, or water damage to carpet or hardwood floors.
The severity of water damage is greater when you’re not home to catch it.
Winter water damage most often happens during extreme cold, ice, and snow storms. Prevent damage to your home by following risk mitigation practices:
One of the best things you can do is install a smart water shut-off valve. These devices will help detect leaks in your home and shut off the water to prevent damage. Better still, install a battery backup with it in case of a winter storm power outage.
If you’re away from your home often or own more than one home, these can save you a lot of time and headaches. Because even a little water damage can cause mold, leading to extensive remediation and repairs.
If your home has a sump pump in the basement or crawl space, make sure to have a battery backup. If bad weather, such as severe thunderstorms or heavy snow, knocks out power, your sump pump can’t prevent flooding.
Having a backup battery-powered sump pump will ensure it still runs and removes water.
Heavy snow on your roof can potentially cause structural damage. If you have more than six inches of snow on your roof, you’ll need to remove some of the snow to reduce the load.
Likewise, if you have heavy snowfall that starts to melt rapidly, it could leak into your basement. Before winter storms hit, seal up any cracks and crevices in the foundation to prevent leaks. Then, when the storm passes, shovel the snow away from your home's foundation.
If the weather is supposed to be below freezing for extended periods of time, you need to prevent your pipes from freezing. When pipes freeze, the water expands and can damage the pipes. Then, when it thaws, it can burst and flood your home fast.
To prevent this from occurring, follow these three steps:
If you’re not at home, keep your home at 55 degrees or warmer to prevent pipes from bursting in cold weather. Send someone you trust to take care of the pipes and check on them in the morning. This is also where the automatic shut-off water valve comes in handy.
Ice dams form at the edge of the roof, where the roof meets the attic and gutters. The heat from the attic causes the snow to melt into the gutters, where it refreezes and blocks them.
When this happens, the water can leak into your attic and cause damage. To prevent that:
Here are some warning signs to look out for if you think you may have water damage:
To prevent the need for water damage restoration, you’ll need to take care of any moisture quickly to prevent mold. The best way to prevent mold after water damage is to immediately locate and stop the water leak and dry the area as quickly as possible.
In the case of severe damage, you’ll need professionals to come in and take care of the water damage and mold.
Most standard home insurance policies will cover damage originating from within your home, such as from a burst pipe.
At Vault, we go above and beyond to make sure our customers have peace of mind and immediate attention to their water damage insurance claims – that’s the Vault difference.
When you file a claim, an adjustor will reach out to you within 2 hours and get the information they need to schedule services. On our end, the average time to some form of payment for your claim is 48 hours.
Request a quote and experience the Vault difference for our high-net-worth homes.
Related Products: Homeowners Insurance
Winter water damage most often happens during extreme cold, ice, and snow storms. Prevent damage to your home by following risk mitigation practices:
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