Winter Water Damage Repair

Frozen and burst pipes

The largest winter losses in this region come from supply lines that froze in a crawl space, attic, garage or exterior wall. The water is clean, but the volume is high and it travels. Have a licensed plumber address the line, document the damage, and deal with the building afterward. The detail is on the frozen and burst pipes page.

Ice dams and roof leaks in cold weather

Ice damming happens when heat escaping into the attic melts snow on the upper roof, the meltwater runs down to the cold eave, and it refreezes there. The dam that builds up holds water back, and standing water works under the shingle courses in a way that running water never does. It is a ventilation and insulation problem more than a shingle problem, and it shows up most on roofs with exhaust at the ridge and no usable intake at the soffit. Higher ground east of Springfield sees it more than the city does.

• Water stains at the top of exterior walls or at the ceiling line near the eave
• Large icicles combined with a visible ridge of ice at the gutter line
• Wet insulation in the attic near the eave after a thaw
• Loose or stained soffit and fascia

The durable fixes are balanced intake and exhaust ventilation, adequate attic insulation, sealing the air leaks from the living space into the attic, and self-adhering ice barrier at the eaves during the next roof replacement. Heat cable manages a symptom.

Snow, melt and intrusion at the envelope

Freeze-thaw cycling opens things up. Water gets into masonry joints, chimney crowns, step flashing and window details, freezes, expands, and enlarges the gap for the next round. Melt from a snow cover has more time to find those openings than a rain event does, because it releases slowly over days. Where a wall or chimney leaks in winter but not in summer rain, freeze-thaw damage at a joint or flashing is a common explanation.

Crawl space and foundation moisture

Melting snow at the foundation, downspouts discharging next to the wall, and grade sloping back toward the house put bulk water under the building at the time of year when nothing dries out. Fixing surface drainage and gutter discharge comes first; encapsulation keeps the space under control year round and reduces the exposure of pipes running through it.

What the repair involves

After the source is addressed and the affected area is dried, the building work is straightforward: remove materials that will not recover, repair framing and subfloor, re-insulate, drywall, texture and paint, reinstall trim and flooring, and correct whatever envelope detail let the water in. ARCC assesses the damage, documents it, coordinates the appropriate trades and mitigation as needed, and performs the repair and reconstruction. We do not make response-time promises we cannot keep, and we do not decide what your policy covers.