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Common Ways the Cold Can Hurt Your Home

calander Dec 12 , 2019 user-iconAnderson Painting

Most of us know how uncomfortable frigid temperatures can be. But we’re not the only victims of the cold air. Cold weather can also do a number on your home, both inside and out – and Anderson Painting contractors have seen it all. To protect your property and stay safe this winter, it helps to know about the various ways cold temperatures can hurt your home. Here are some of the most common ones.

Clogged Gutters

Gutters are designed to keep water away from your home, but they only function well when they’re free from debris. Without proper maintenance, your gutters can get clogged with leaves, dirt, dust, and other materials, especially during the autumn months. Then, once the air gets chilly, any water that doesn’t make it out of your gutters can freeze and lead to further problems. As ice accumulates, it weighs down your gutters, causing them to bend, break, or fall down completely.

To avoid this mess, take the time to clean your gutters before it gets too cold. This will help ensure that moisture doesn’t build up and destroy your gutters and/or creep into your home.

Roof Damage

When the air gets cold, snow is often not far behind. And snow is a roof’s worst enemy. Major snowfalls can put a lot of pressure on your roof and melt into your home, especially if your gutters aren’t in good shape. While it’s possible to get up on your roof and shovel it off, this is dangerous, inefficient, and ill-advised. Professionals can remove snow from your roof and lay down materials to speed up the melting process for future snowfalls. Cold weather can also cause ice dams on your roof. You can help prevent these by installing proper ventilation and insulation in your attic.

Peeling Paint

Your Raleigh house painters can tell you that a high-quality paint job can withstand quite a bit, but cold conditions can still do damage to both your exterior and interior paint. Ice outside your home can eventually cause moisture to seep into your exterior paint and loosen its surface adhesion, causing it to peel. And then, inside your home, a lack of proper ventilation can lead to interior moisture build-up, which then also leads to blistering and peeling.

Once again, ensuring that your home is well-insulated, well-ventilated, and properly sealed can keep your interior paint job from peeling away. Protecting your exterior paint from harm is more challenging, but keeping ice away from your gutters can help. If necessary, your Raleigh painting professionals can touch up your paint job after the cold air has left.

Stagnant, Dry Air

To stay warm in the cold weather, you likely have some method of heating your home, like a furnace. While this warm air keeps you comfortable, it can also lead to stagnation and dryness. This stale air might primarily affect your breathing and skin, but it can also damage some of your home’s surfaces and features, especially drywall and objects made of wood.

Weakened Structures

Speaking of structural damage, the fluctuations between cold and warm and moist and dry can wreak havoc on your home’s integrity. That’s because objects expand when heated and contract when cooled down. If temperatures oscillate too violently and frequently, structures can begin to break apart. Support beams may break apart, concrete floors might fracture, and you may need to invest in drywall repair after the season’s over.

Frozen Pipes

When the pipes in your home are working normally, you might take them for granted. But you’ll definitely notice when you suddenly can’t take a shower or pour yourself a glass of water. In extreme cold, leftover moisture inside your pipes can freeze and then expand, blocking off access. If pipes become too backed up and stiff, they might break apart, which can then allow moisture to enter your interior walls.

To avoid these issues, it’s wise to let your pipes run when it starts to get really cold so water can flow through and not freeze inside.

Cold weather is more than just a nuisance. While you can’t protect your home from everything this winter, you can at least mitigate any damage that might come its way. The experts at Anderson Painting have the knowledge and resources to guard your home against the cold and everything that comes with it. For more about us and everything we do, call us today at 919-610-1855 or email us at!