If you’re unprepared, winter can have some harsh effects on your home. Most folks focus on their HVAC, insulation, plumbing and smaller issues like weather stripping and fuses. Looking for ways to protect your home from winter?
Winter’s Peril
Winter is a time that puts added strain on any gutter system. If you missed getting your gutters cleaned during fall, it would be a smart move to go ahead and have them cleaned at the beginning of winter. Why?
Winter storms and winds can land leaves, tree branches other debris into your gutter system. Add to that any snow or ice that can accumulate on your roof, and you’re looking at a significant amount of added weight stressing your gutters.
Because gutters are rated to handle a certain amount of weight, exceeding that is easy when debris, ice and snow begin to accumulate.
What’s at stake?
- For one, your gutters could begin to separate from the fascia on the sides of your home and damage the fascia boards.
- Your gutters’ pitch (angle of mount) could become compromised. This means your gutters won’t drain properly.
- In serious cases, your gutters could break or fall, causing both personal safety issues and vulnerability to your home’s foundation and drainage system.
- Another winter gutter woe is ice damming. Ice damming is caused by temperature discrepancies between the temperature on the surface of your roof and the temperature of the space beneath your roof. Preventing ice damming can be a challenge, but improving your insulation and applying an ice and water barrier below roof shingles are two remedies to consider now.
- If your home suffers ice damming, chances are, your gutters need to be removed to alleviate the ice dam. Ned Stevens has plenty of expertise in solving ice damming problems. If you’re enrolled in one of our service plans, we’ll discount your ice damming service.
Because winter’s effects on your home can be cruel, treat your home to some TLC with the help of Ned Stevens. With our Diamond Service Plan, you don’t have to worry about whether your gutters will be ready for winter because we’ll ensure that your gutter system is healthy, year round. If you do incur damage to your system during winter, your membership in the plan ensures that we’ll take care of the problem as quickly as possible, and some small repairs will be done at no extra charge to you. For new customers, we’re offering a one-time coupon for $50 off our Diamond Service Plan.