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Winter Weather Worries in East Topeka, KS

12/4/2023 (Permalink)

If you live where temperatures sink below freezing level, you are at risk for frozen pipes and ice dams, which can create major disasters at your home or property. Frozen pipes often occur when they are exposed to the cold weather, such as those outside your East Topeka house, or in cold areas such as basements, attics, garages, or kitchen cabinets. A frozen pipe can burst at the point where the ice blockage inside the pipe is located, but typically the rupture is caused by the backflow pressure between the water source and the blockage. Here are a few steps that you can take to prevent your pipes from freezing:

  • Be sure to completely drain water from swimming pools and sprinkler lines, as well as outside hoses.
  • Open kitchen cabinets to let warm air near the plumbing.
  • When the weather is extremely cold, let water drip from faucets that may come from exposed pipes.
  • Keep your heat set to the same temperature both day and night.

Ice dams can become a major problem during the snowy season. They form when heated air melts roof snow downward into water dammed behind still frozen ice. When the trapped water cannot safely flow or run into the gutter system, it can backflow under the roof’s shingles and into the structure’s interior areas, as well as causing gutters and shingles to move or fall. Icicles can be an indicator of an ice dam according to Travelers.com. To spot ice dams inside, “check for water stains or moisture in your attic or along the ceiling of exterior walls of your East Topeka house. Water stains or moisture may be an indication that an ice dam has formed and water has penetrated the roof membrane.” Removing the ice dam as soon as possible is vital to helping prevent damage to your property and can be done using heated cables, a roof shovel, or calcium chloride ice melter.

If winter weather causes water damage to you and your insured’s property, SERVPRO of East Topeka professionals are only a call away 24/7, ready to restore to pre loss condition.