Tips for Maintaining Your Charleston Home During This Heavy Winter

After heavy snowfall this winter, you might be wondering about how you should be taking care of your Charleston Home. Here are some tips from our Warranty Manager to keep everything in check.

Today we’re delighted to be joined by assistant warranty manager Todd Hansen. Since it's been a heck of a winter this year with all the snow we’ve gotten, I wanted to talk to him about some of the questions he’s been getting.

As far as snow on the roof is concerned, this is something that’s more of a concern with older homes. In our homes, we use roof trusses that are actually designed for a heavy snow load. Our homeowners don’t have to be concerned about any kind of snow on the roof, unless we have six or eight feet up there. Most have under a foot, which isn’t anything to worry about.

Another thing we’ve noticed a lot is overflowing gutters and downspouts full of ice. Although some of the ice will melt as a result of the dark color of the roof, he recommends using some heat tape in the gutter to keep water from freezing and help it drain to the ground. It’s important to keep the ends of your gutters clear, however, to make sure water flows away from the foundation of the house. If things are backed up and water flows towards the house, that could make things dicey.

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We don’t recommend using any traditional ice melt.

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For ice and snow-packed areas, we still don’t recommend any ice melt. The freezing and thawing will cause driveways and walkways to peel off, which is called spalling. It wears away at the finish a lot faster than it should. Instead, we recommend putting down sand, gravel, or kitty litter to add traction and protect your concrete.

Finally, make sure to keep your garage swept out. You don’t want to spray it out in the winter, so use a broom or shop vac instead. In the spring, we do recommend that you hose out your garage to get any of that salt residue that’s left behind out. We also recommend caulking and sealing your driveway once things warm up.

If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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