Inspecting The Damage: Dealing With The Aftermath of Extreme Winter Weather

Every week, the detail-oriented folks at Green Scene Home Inspections will give CandysDirt.com readers an education in inspection. Want to see what they see? Tune in for “Upon Closer Inspection.”

Well, we never thought we’d see the day, but Snowpocalyse 2021 is here, and now that we’ve all made the requisite jokes about Texans in winter weather and learned the meaning of  “polar vortex,” it’s time to assess/mitigate the damage and learn to do better next time.

Real estate goes on, despite rolling power outages, snow, and ice, and we have dozens of clients in the queue for an inspection this week. Why can’t we do a home inspection during a freeze? Road conditions notwithstanding, there are just too many things we can’t safely inspect. Here are some issue to be expected: 

Sprinkler System

During a Freeze: We can’t test the sprinkler system because it’s not safe to run water through the lines without risking a freeze.

If you winterized your sprinkler system before the freeze, you should have drained all the water from it avoiding damaged heads and broken lines. If you didn’t, you may have frozen lines, which can burst as the ice expands. In the image above, you can see a frozen sprinkler head

After a Freeze: Test the sprinkler system for malfunctioning heads, which may indicate broken lines. You need 72 hours of above-freezing temperatures to safely test the sprinklers.

Next Time: Winterize your sprinkler system in the fall when you stop watering for the season.

Swimming Pools

During a Freeze: We can’t inspect pool equipment during a freeze for the same reasons as sprinkler equipment.

During a freeze you want to keep your pool equipment running if possible — moving water is less likely to freeze. Barring that, break up the ice that forms in the pool to keep it from freezing solid. Floating some logs in the water can help absorb the pressure versus the walls of the pool.

This is a pool after breaking up the ice in Frisco, TX:

After a Freeze: You’ll need to check for cracks in the decking, the poll walls, tiles, and/or bricks around the pool. You can have a pool service perform a leak detection test to determine whether any pool lines have broken. Have your pool equipment serviced before you start using it to check for any damage or malfunction.
Next Time: There are different ways to winterize your pool, from keeping it covered and running the pump to fully flushing the system of water. 

Plumbing

During a Freeze:  The pipes that are most likely to freeze are:

1) outdoor pipes that are exposed like hose bibs and faucets, pool lines, and sprinkler lines; 2) interior pipes in unheated areas like the crawl space in pier-and-beam homes, attics, and garages; 3) pipes that run near exterior walls.

During a freeze, you should insulate interior and exterior pipes that you can access, keep water dripping, and open cabinet doors.

If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle comes out, you may have a frozen pipe. Check the pipes near exterior walls and where the water enters your home through the foundation.  

After the Freeze: Inspectors will be checking for damage caused by burst pipes: water leaks, water damage to walls, floors, and ceilings. If a pipe has burst underneath shower tiles or floors, it may be possible to repair without tearing up the tile or flooring if there is another point of access, like an adjacent sheetrock wall. The inspection report will help you determine whether the damage is cosmetic or more serious, so you can make decisions about going forward.

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So now what? We say, arm yourself with knowledge, repair damage, and go forward in our new reality where a catastrophic freeze of this magnitude is possible.