Simple Maintenance Tasks That Can Protect Your Home From Water Damage

Never underestimate the danger of water damage to your home; water on the home's framework can lead to mould growth, and mould spores are a health hazard. Mould can also soften the home's structure, increasing the risk of a beam or stud outright cracking or breaking. Water damage to the home's foundation can allow it to soften, so that the home sinks and shifts, also leading to cracks in walls, ceilings, and floors. Note a few simple maintenance and repair tasks that can protect your home from water damage, but which are also very easy for homeowners to overlook!

Dehumidifying

Trapped humidity in the home is not just uncomfortable, as this humidity can settle onto walls and the basement floor, eventually causing damage to those surfaces. Standing water, such as in the basement, can attract termites and other pests that are looking for a water source.

If your home's central air conditioner doesn't have a dehumidifier installed to remove humidity as well as heat, you can have the unit retrofitted with one. There are also stand-alone dehumidifiers you can put in various rooms, and a sump pump will help to remove any water that collects on the basement floor.

Insulating plumbing fixtures

If your home has a toilet tank that "sweats," meaning that water collects on its outside, the home's plumbing pipes may be doing the same thing. This condensation forms when warm air in the room meets the cold surface of a plumbing fixture, and moisture in the air then clings to that surface. Condensation on plumbing pipes can drip away from the pipes and settle onto the home's building materials, causing damage. Insulating those pipes will block any hot air and humidity around them, reducing the risk of water damage behind your home's walls.

Gutters

Your home's gutters stop rainwater from rolling off the roof and pooling around the home's foundation. However, if the gutters are undersized, clogged, leaking, or are pulling away from the roof, they won't be effective. It's vital that you clean your home's gutters as often as needed, and regularly inspect them as well. Note any holes in the gutters, or if there is a gap between the gutters and the roof eaves, and have those issues repaired. Also, if you see water marks down the home's siding or along the roof edge, this typically means the gutters are overflowing and need to be replaced with something larger, to protect your home's foundation from potential water damage.

For more information, contact companies like Trimview Mobile Guttering​.

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