3 Things All Park City Homeowners Need to Check Before Winter
Living in Park City presents homeowners with unique home maintenance responsibilities to ensure a properly functioning home during the harsh winter months.
In Park City, we experience roughly six months of cold temperatures and snow; making sure that your home is ready for these six months will ensure that your winter isn’t filled with home repairs and problems.
Let’s take a look at three things that all Park City homeowners should check before winter arrives.
1. Heat Cable Condition
Many homeowners in Park City have heat cable installed on their roofs to help prevent ice dams, roof leaks, and icicles from forming.
Heat cable is one of the best solutions that we have found in our 19 years of working in Park City for quickly and effectively solving these problems.
All heat cable systems eventually wear down though, which limits the effectiveness of a heat cable system. The brand of heat cable installed on a home will affect the expected lifetime of each system.
Other factors can also cause heat cable systems to fail like shorting circuits due to systems not being turned on in time, or unplanned additions to heat cable systems.
We always recommend that homeowners get their heat cable meg tested to ensure that it is ready to operate in the winter.
A meg test works by checking the current that can pass through the cable. If the current passing through is within the specified cables operating range than it will function properly.
If the meg test shows that the cable isn’t producing enough current, that means there is a problem with the system, and it won’t do you any good in the winter.
2. Roof Condition
Your homes roof is the most important protective barrier from the outside elements. Having a properly functioning roof system will ensure that your home doesn’t get damaged by snow and ice.
Having your roof system fail during the winter is one of the worst things that a homeowner could ask for. A failing roof during the winter can cause tens of thousands worth of interior damage.
If water starts to pass through your roof, it can damage drywall, electrical, and cause wood rot.
If your roof is more than 15 years old or if your roof looks to be in poor condition we highly recommend having your roof checked before it starts to snow heavily to ensure that your roof doesn’t need repairs.
3. Furnace Maintenance
HVAC and heating professionals recommend that a furnace is serviced at least once a year. Annual furnace maintenance can prevent furnace damage and will ensure that your heater is working when it needs to.
Having your furnace checked before the winter can help catch common problems like broken pilot lights, dirty filters, and cracked heat exchangers which can leave you with no heat.
Having your furnace maintained is a great way to avoid common problems and stay toasty all winter long.
Conclusion
Living in Park City is one of the most incredible experiences, and making sure that your home is ready for the long winter months will make it even more enjoyable.
Before winter is in full swing, we recommend that every Park City homeowner gets their roof looked at, has their heat cable meg tested and gets their heating system maintained.
That last thing you want during the winter is one of these systems to fail and leave you with potentially thousands of dollars worth of damage.