Winter Game Plan – Keeping Snow from Adding to a Problem

[JacobPM]

New England has some random weather and nothing is worse for the basement then Snow Melting under the flood of a huge rainstorm.

Deal with the snow:
Moving snow away from the foundation or home always helps. Removing snow from side walks that run around the home also help. Pay attention to areas where there is a lot of concrete and run close to the home.

If you can help it, avoid piling snow near the home while clearing driveways and sidewalks. This will help less moisture to build near the foundation.

Window Well Covers:
If your basement windows are sunk and have window wells, window well covers will help many of these areas from even touching snow. This will be a big help protect against possible water leaks through your basement windows.


Other things to attend to:
Gutters and rain chutes also help in the long-term solution. They can’t deal with all the water caused by rain and snow melting, but they can help the mass collected on your roof from adding to a problem.

Pioneer always suggests a battery backup sump pumps in basements. They help to protect against flooding even with a power outage.

Sump pumps are great for helping to solve issues with floor leaks, and seepage along the outer rim of the basement, but can have a hard time solving foundation wall leaks by themselves. If you have a foundation wall leak make sure that one of our wall protection solutions is installed and running clear to our Grate Drain.

If you’re in an area of New England (MA, CT, RI, NH, ME, or VT) that typically experiences power outages for Longer than 24 hours during the winter and hurricane seasons, we’d suggest doing some research on generators to help keep you powered and protected in the worst weather.