Ice: we love to hate it, but it’s a fact of life here in Minnesota. From salting slick roads to scraping frozen windshields, we’ve learned ways to fight back against the elements and get on with our lives in the true spirit of our state.
Our homes, though – they aren’t so action-oriented. Even though a well-maintained exterior, one that’s been routinely serviced by an exterior contractor and whose ice storm damage has been promptly repaired, can put up with a great deal of ice-and-snow-related stress, it can’t simply rid itself of the elements through its own force of will.
Many Minnesotan homes are left out in the cold this time of year, forced to weather the wrath of the weather with only gravity and design considerations to help them through. As you can imagine, and as we’ve talked about on our exterior home contractor blog, this can lead to some severe structural degradation!
Curious what ice and snow can do to your home? Worried that you aren’t taking the right precautions to stop it? Read on to learn more about this statewide winter threat from Perfect Exteriors, a Monticello home exterior contractor.
Ice and Snow: Nasty Forces of Nature
Many of the issues stemming from ice and snow don’t relate to the ice and snow themselves, per se. They relate to what happens when they melt.
Water, as you’re probably well aware, can be quite damaging when left in standing puddles, as your home is designed to shed these puddles, not to play host to them. It also can become a problem when it worms its way into places it doesn’t belong.
When it comes to ice and snow damage, be it water-related or not, watch out for:
- Ice dams. Once this gargoyle of a problem takes up residence on your rooftop, you’ll need to get rid of it ASAP. Ice dams can cause standing water to wash up under your shingles, opening the door for mold infestations or wet insulation.
- Your wood siding warping. Water can seep into small cracks in your wood siding’s weatherproofing. It then expands when it freezes, causing stress on that particular board and contributing to its overall wear-and-tear. If you’re struggling to stay ahead of this problem, consider switching to a hardier siding type, like engineered wood.
- Shingle loss. When ice dams form, they can also exert quite a bit of force on your shingles, resulting in their ultimate demise. It’s yet another reason to get rid of these icy formations quickly!
Contact Perfect Exteriors for Professional Storm Damage Repair
Our local team has seen it all, and when it comes to winter storm repair, there’s nothing we can’t handle. Give our Monticello office a call today at 763-271-8700[.
