Tips on how to prevent damage to your home from heavy snow

PITTSBURGH — Whenever there’s a big snowstorm, you can easily end up with damage to your home from heavy snow or tree limbs.

Tree limbs hanging near your home could snap due to the weight of the snow and fall on your house. You can use a broom to knock the snow off once it starts to build.

Leaving your outside water spigot on during freezing temperatures could cause it rupture, leading to water issues inside your home.

Icicles can also cause serious damage. If you see them building along your gutters, it’s a sign the water is not draining properly. You could have something on your roof called an ice dam.

“When the gutters can’t drain, the gutters build up basically a dam which blocks the water onto the roof or against the fascia. That will allow the ice to get behind the walls,” said Mike Scholler with Howard Hanna.

If your home does get damaged, your homeowners insurance may not cover everything. The average homeowner’s insurance deductible is about $1,000. If the damage is under that amount, you may want to just pay out of pocket and avoid any potential insurance rate increases.

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