Battling Winter's Fury: When To Call a Professional Restoration Company
As NE Ohio begins to cool down for the year...
Night time temperatures steadily approach freezing, frost is on our carved pumpkins and many residents are beginning to turn on their furnaces for the first time this year. At Unified Restoration Systems, winter is one of our most busy seasons for property damage. Not only does the frigid weather bring burst pipes, ice formation, and flooding, the things one would expect...its also a season known for causing fires.
Say What? - Fires in wintertime! Wet snow and melting ice don't make many think of fire damage, but the use of fireplaces, wood stoves, and furnaces in the wintertime are the top contenders for starting fires in both homes and offices. A combination of dry air with low humidity and a single loose spark can start a snowballing event that rapidly gets out of control. Lets go over these and a couple more of the seasonal disasters that hit especially hard during the winter months of Ohio.
To begin, we'll cover the obvious, Winter Damage from Water related events. This covers: Winter storms, Roof Damage, Burst Pipes, Failed Sump Pumps, and Collapsed Gutters. Lets dive in...
Winter Storm Damage
Winter storms can be some of the most brutal types of weather that cause damage to a home or office building. In Ohio, its common to experience rain mixed with sleet and ice, hail storms, and high wind storms. Each brings a new set of problems! Rain mixed with sleet will coat homes, rooftops, and gutters with a layer of heavy ice. If this ice is able to remain and build up over time, damages can occur.
Whether minor damage like a gutter collapsing under the weight of water and ice, or major damage like shingle displacement leading to leaks inside of the home, a call to a professional restoration company like Unified Restoration Systems is highly recommended - URS works with your insurance company for restoration, and we handle the back-and-forth required, so that the process is as easy going and low stress on our clients as possible!
After all, they have just been through a disaster!
Ice Dams
Ice dams are able to form when snow and ice melt on top of an insulated roof, but refreeze along the colder overhang of the roof, forming a dam that only increases in size over time. This phenomenon leads to heavy deposits of ice that a roof was never meant to endure. It can cause cracks, leaks, floods, and major structural damage if left unattended for too long.
Removal of an ice dam should only be handled by professionals like Unified Restoration Systems, with proper safety equipment and proper training (A slip and fall off of an icy roof will only add to your troubles!). Incorrect removal of an ice dam can lead to damaged shingles, displaced shingles, and even leakier roofs – PLEASE leave it to a professional!
Burst Pipes
A burst pipe can happen anytime that a pipe is allowed to freeze. Any liquid inside will also freeze and as it does, begin to expand until the pipe cannot contain it any longer, and the break happens. For this reason, pipes that run outside the home should be insulated. Pipes inside the home are generally okay as long as the heat remains functioning and water is able to flow.
When a pipe bursts, the clock starts on damage mitigation, which is a fancy word for stopping further damage! Water spreads mold, so water that is allowed to pool and is improperly dried will cause further damage in the future. Cleaning up the water is step one, Unified Restoration will bring in dehumidifiers, fans, and make flood cuts in the drywall, to avoid having to replace the entire panel – an added expense. Flood cuts stop further damage from water related events, and allow us to repair a section of your home or office instead of the entire thing! It saves both money and time! Once everything is dry, our crew will replace drywall, carpet, laminate, anything that was damaged by the burst pipe and rebuilt your home or office to a new version of itself!
Failed Sump Pumps
Sump pumps are backup units for homes that know a water problem is present, and have no other means of dealing with it. They move water from a low point in a basement or supply room to the outside of the building, preventing water damage. During a heavy rain, or snow melt, these systems can be overwhelmed – They can fail for a number of reasons such as loss of power, clogging, a dead motor, and overheating.
Anytime your sump pump fails, a water related emergency could be in your very near future – after all the pumps are already your backup! The time to act is as soon as you're aware of the pumps failure! Water damage mitigation is the only way to save the property from wide flood damage. Unified Restoration Systems is available 24/7, every day of the year, even on Holidays – disasters never wait and never do we!
Wintertime Fire Damage
Now that we've covered some of the winter water damages that can occur, lets talk about Winter damage from Fire related events. The National Fire Protection Association has this to say about wintertime house fires:
“According to NFPA, heating equipment is the leading cause of U.S. home fires between December and January, while cooking equipment is the leading cause of home fires year-round. The third-leading cause of home fires is electrical equipment, with three in 10 electrical fires occurring between November and February. Also, more than a third (34 percent) of Christmas tree home fires occur in January.” Source: https://www.nfpa.org/about-nfpa/press-room/news-releases/2024/deadly-home-fires-across-us-underscore-increased-risks-during-winter-months
As you can see from quote by the National Fire Protection Association, winter fires are serious business and happen in some of the coldest months. Heating equipment (Furnaces, boilers, wood stoves, Fireplaces) all fall into the same category but each has a separate set of risks!
Furnaces and Space Heaters
When a furnace is turned on for the first time each year, a musty smell is pretty common, but a smell that lasts for several hours is a cause for concern and is a warning sign! (If you're looking for a Reputable HVAC/R Company operating in or around Akron, check out our sister company,Unified Comfort Systems!) If you smell smoke after turning on the furnace and/or space heater, or your smoke detector begins to shriek, grab your people and leave the home or office immediately, then call emergency services! Make one more emergency call to Unified Restoration Systems to remove any fire damaged items and get that smokey smell out of your home or office!
Newspapers, cardboard boxes, and other piles around a furnace or space heater should be moved to create a nice open space. Parts of these heating devices can reach several hundred degrees and a cluttered area with dry boxes and papers can be the start of a dangerous fire.
Fireplaces and Candles
Bundled up and watching a movie with family and friends, in front of a roaring fire is how winter months are best spent! But a combination of dry air, loose sparks from a fireplace, and a creosote soaked flue can be a serious hazard and an accident waiting to happen.
A fireplace without maintenance is going to cause problems down the line. Burning the wrong kind of wood can coat your flue vent in flammable resin! Its recommended to get your chimney and fireplace flue vent inspected each year before its first use! This reduces the risk of harm from fireplaces and chimney fires.
Winter is also the time of year when candles are used to decorate homes, filling the air with aromas of pine, cinnamon, and apples. Be extra vigilant with placement of these candles, especially around holiday decorations and areas where pets and children play! Keep flames away from Christmas lights, ornaments, Christmas trees, and walls! Always remember to extinguish candles before leaving the home or office and before going to bed. Unified Restoration gets a lot of calls beginning this time of year, and through-out the new year for holiday related fires! Stay safe, stay proactive!
Crowded outlets and too many extension cords
Another big source of wintertime fire damages come from piggy backing extension cords. With your home decorated and shining like beacon, chock full of Christmas lights, your outlets are going to get a bit crowded. One hazard that is often overlooked are multiple-outlet wall adapters that turn one plug into as many as 6. With 6 new plugs for all of your lights and animated Santa decorations, its quite easy to overload that wall socket!
A typical power outlet is rated for about 15 amps, at 120 volts. Meaning it can deliver around 1800 watts at a max. Overloading your circuits will, at a minimum, trigger your circuit breaker and cut the power, but at its worst, will melt circuitry, plastic, and can even start a fire. Overloading circuits can also cause other lights in the home or building to quit working, because the entire circuit became damaged.
Always use extra care when installing Christmas decorations into extension cords, power strips and wall adapters! Spread them out between outlets in your home and always make sure they are not outside and exposed to snow, ice, and water – Electricity and water do not mix!
Puff Backs
Its not something anyone expects to happen when they turn their heating system on for the first time of the year! POOF! – Literally soot and smoke everywhere! You've just experienced a puff back.
A puff back is a build up of vaporized gas or oil in the firebox found on a boiler or furnace, that then ignites, causing a fire, an explosion, or an outpouring of soot and smoke. This will spread around the area and send residue through your ventilation. This malfunction most often happens in oil-fired furnaces and boilers, it can happen in gas-fired devices but is much more rare.
So what do you do to clean this up? Its a bit beyond paper towels, spray, and a mop...you might need to call in the artillery for this kind of damage, Call Unified Restoration Systems (234) 571-2005
We restore damage from fire related damage, like a puff back. We'll remove the soot and smoke from your walls, replacing drywall where needed, and get that smell out of your home or office! The best part? - Unified Restoration works with your insurance company for reimbursement, you only need to file the claim to get started!
While we never want to see any of these things occur, accidents happen!
If any of these wintertime disasters ever descends onto your home or office, give Unified Restoration Systems a call to immediately mitigate further damage and board up the area. We'll then move out your belongings (called a pack-out), and restore the property to new – all while working with your insurance.
We offer disaster mitigation planning so that businesses can have a plan in advance of a disaster, saving as many lives as possible! We'll do things like mark where your water main shut off is, so that if a flood were to occur, you can save as much of your property as possible, even before we arrive!
We also offer winterization to prepare your home or office for the cold winters to come. We'll wrap up pipes that are exposed to the outdoors, perform a gutter inspection, and go over a detailed checklist covering all of the above dangers and more!
