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With today’s real estate market as ripe for activity as it is, many people are getting into second homes, vacation places and rental or investment properties. In fact, for those that already have these additional properties – it’s a great time to own them as values are finally starting to rise on them again with our market leaning toward being a sellers’ market.
But one thing you should know as the owner of a secondary property is that come wintertime it is critical to winterize the home or else be prepared to suffer the consequences. As you can see in the video, I’ve shared with you a sample pipe that has ruptured as a result of the water main not being turned off during the winter.
What happens is that with lack of use there is standing water left in the pipelines, leading to the risk (and very often occurrence) of water in pipes to freeze. As the ice expands on such a vast scale as throughout the entire house, pipes then literally rupture and crack open. Though the root cause of the problem takes place early on in the winter, visible damage doesn’t really occur until later on when things start to warm up again.
Many times we hear of property owners that return to their homes only to find that their pipes had ruptured and there is water damage all over the place. The repair for this sort of damage is very extensive and time-consuming, costing as much as $10,000 to replace the pipelines.
The simplest and easiest thing you can do to avoid all this is to turn off the water main switch before the cold winter sets in. That is all it takes.
Other winterization tips include:
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Cleaning out fall leaves debris from gutters
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Sealing cracks and crevices in your driveway to avoid salt and grime from corroding the driveway during winter months
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Installing snow stakes to help avoid damage from snowplowing
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Double checking door and window seals to trap in as much heat as possible
We hope you find these tips useful and as always, please do not hesitate to contact us for your real estate needs!
