Home inspectors warning residents of water damage as weather warms up

MONCTON – A Moncton home inspector is warning home owners and residents that warmer weather could allow melting snow to seep into homes, causing major water damage.

Dan Connors speaks for Metro Maintenance and Inspection and his staff are in the process of restoring a home with some major water damage.

Connors says warm days and cold nights can allow water to seep in through roofs.

“There was a severe case of water damming,” he said. “Where the water backs up under the shingles and gets the roof boards wet and causes the insulation to get wet and it’s a snowball effect right down into the basement because it goes down through the walls.”

Connors says homeowners can avoid the problem by allowing water to pass through their eavestroughs.

“If we don’t clear our own down spouts and stuff like that the water’s got no place to go,” he said. “It’ll back up the spout and inside the roof and you’ll have water damage almost anywhere in the house.”

But some say the damages are catching homeowners by surprise. Scott Douthwright is a project manager at FirstOnSite Restoration.

“Some people are surprised,” he said. “They’ve never heard of ice damming before.”

Douthwright says snow-related damages have been keeping them busy.

“A good chunk of them are ice damming claims,” he said.”So people are starting to get water damages coming in from the build up ice along the eave of the house.”

As an above average winter starts to wind down, insurance agents are also expecting calls to pick-up.

Natalie LeBlanc works with State Farm.

“It’s going to warm up and people are going to leave snow on their roofs, on their decks and around their windows,” she said. “If it goes all through your walls it could end up in your kitchen and some kitches are older so you would have to replace the whole kitchen so it could get up quite high.”