You wake up at your normal time to get ready for work and you notice it’s still dark out. You look out the window as you pour your first cup of coffee and you see that you’ll need to get ready a few minutes early so you have time to scrape the frost off your windshield before heading off to work. That’s when you notice for the first time this year that your furnace has kicked on and the slight chill you’ve been ignoring in your bare feet starts to recede. Ah, yes, Fall has found you once again. Whether this is the time of year you’ve been looking forward to the most or the one you’d been hoping we could just skip this year, this change of seasons comes with more implications than that first pumpkin spice latte. It means Winter is coming. Whether your follow Game of Thrones or not, the thought is chilling (literally)! But don’t worry, the experts at Service Team of Professionals in Spokane know just what to do to save you from a weather related disaster this year.
An Ounce of Prevention…
Each year, the team over at STOP Restoration in Spokane help homeowners recover from damage caused by the cold weather. Some obvious ways to help ensure your home is protected include
- Insulated Faucet Covers
- Protect your pipes from freezing by disconnecting your hose outside and installing these common foam cups. They take just minutes and may save you several days and thousands of dollars in repair.
- During extreme low temperatures, leave cabinet doors open to allow heated air to reach piping beneath sinks. You can also let the water trickle slowly to further deter freezing.
- Check your window sills for condensation and dry as much as you can. Leaving this moisture for too long will lead to mold, which may not be immediately visible, growing in cracks and underneath trim.
Delving Deeper
In speaking to one of our technicians, Jon, he related a story of a house he recently worked on. “The homeowner called complaining of mold in their coat closet,” Jon recalled. Upon inspection, Jon discovered the mold was resulting from a slow leak in the condensate line from the home’s furnace, which had been leaking, causing moisture to build up. “Most homeowners don’t think about things like that,” Jon said. “They know to regularly change their furnace filters, but that’s also a good time to remind yourself to check the area around your furnace for leaks. They can come from the drip pan beneath the furnace or from the condensate line being cracked or not connected properly, which was the case here.” Jon says that catching these things early can prevent a massive mold buildup which can spread rapidly.
Bottom Line
If you are reading this article just a little bit too late and the phrase “Oh sure, now you tell me” is circling your mind, don’t worry. Service Team of Professionals in Spokane is standing by and waiting for your call. We are here to help with 24/7 emergency service and can be to your house in no time to help clean up any disaster, be it water, mold, fire, smoke or even bio hazards! Just give us a call at (509) 818-7744 and you’ll be well on your way to that first sigh of relief
