How Snow Can Damage Your Home

Snow is beautiful, there’s no denying that. It’s fun to watch it fall and accumulate on the ground, eager to go outside and enjoy the snow. Only to find that once you step outside, you are instantly hit with biting cold temperatures, strong winds, and water soaking into any exposed crevice. This is the reality your home faces during numerous days of the winter. As you can expect, while your home is built to handle it, it usually takes a toll on your home at some point and begins causing damage. Here are the most frequent damages that can happen to your home.

Snow Overload

An easy assumption people make when they hear now overload is that the weight of the snow will collapse your roof. Thankfully this is extremely rare, but it doesn’t mean you can’t ignore the danger. Most roofs can handle between 2-4 feet worth of snow, but as good practice, you want to sweep the excess snow off as soon as it falls down. Neglecting the problem and leaving the snow up there will pave the way for further accumulation until it does become a heavy load, or at the very least segway into other issues mentioned on this list.

Ice Dams

Neglecting the snow on your roof will usually lead to this likely outcome. Ice dams form when the heat from your home melts the snow on top of your rooftop, causing it to melt and refreeze at the edge of your roof. This forms two hazards: one being icicles, which while beautiful can be dangerous for anyone below them, and two, it prevents water & snow from sliding off your roof, pushing it under your roof shingles. This can lead to moisture damage and even leaks, which come with a long list of problems on its own.

Snow Melt

All those leaks that have been started by your home will now go on to cause further damage by allowing melted snow to seep into your home’s roof and walls. This can lead to flooding of the basement area, as well as damaging insulation within your walls and allowing cold air in. The longer time goes on, the worse the problem gets, as the cycle of melting and refreezing will continually expand and contract the water, deepening the cracks. 

All of these are things are cause for concern, enough so to warrant taking preventative measures. The best thing you can do is to contact a contractor to inspect your roof to check for any damage and implement solutions to fix them if any are found. If you feel like you could benefit from this, call us at (862) 305-0462, or fill out an online inquiry form. We’d love to work with you!