Saskatchewan residents and businesses are encouraged to check their properties for damage after the recent hit of cold weather.
Winter has proved it’s not done with the province just yet, with wind chills that dropped this week into the -40s.
“Some things warrant immediate investigation before things turn catastrophic in some cases,” said Jim Mandeville, senior vice-president, large-loss at First Onsite Property Restoration. “Prevention is the best medicine here.”
First Onsite said home or building owners need to be looking for:
- power outages from downed powerlines
- frozen pipes and plumbing issues
- flooding, water damage and moisture buildup
- debris on roofs
- fire hazards, particularly space heaters
“The most common is frozen pipes,” said Mandeville. “It’s frozen faucets, frozen fire sprinklers.”
He said that oftentimes, commercial buildings aren’t built like a home and are more susceptible to frigid temperatures.
“The number one thing that we are always worried about with this extreme cold is the plumbing.”
Mandeville noted that people going on vacation should have someone checking in on their home or building every few days to see if anything is out of the ordinary.
This could save some money for homeowners in the long run.
“If these things leak while you’re in Mexico for a week on vacation and your house sits wet and freezes solid into a giant icicle, it’s going to be a big nightmare for us to clean it up for you,” Mandeville explained.
First Onsite is stressing urgency if people notice a drip in their house or a slow faucet.