Toronto is famous for the freezing rain we get when it warms up during winter. It feels better than snow and ice, but it’s not necessarily all that good for your home. We get it when super-cooled droplets of water come into contact with temperatures below zero. If it freezes in mid-air it becomes sleet, which is not too bad. When it stays liquid until it lands and then becomes solid ice, however, it can cause a number of problems for homeowners. Fortunately, modern pipe bursting technology and other methods of trenchless drain repair can overcome the most difficult problems.
Water Weight
Water has a certain weight per portion, and regardless of whether it’s frozen or liquid, it is heavy. The reason why ice does more damage, however, is because it doesn’t run off and disappear as the liquid does, but builds up. The weight of rain freezing and then building up in gutters and downspouts can cause the infrastructure to buckle under the pressure.
It’s necessary to take steps to melt the ice before it builds up too much, to prevent the kind of damage you might have otherwise. Toronto plumbers advocate cutting holes in the ice on a sloped roof and pouring a non-corrosive, liquid chemical de-icer into each of the holes. This should help melt the ice on the roof and in the drainage channels leading away from it.
Cracked Drain Pipes
Frozen rainwater that stays in Toronto drains can cause your pipes to crack. You might not know about it right away, but when summer comes and the ice melts you may find a soggy mess where it leaks out. Tree roots could be drawn to the cracks by the sense of water inside and cause further damage, resulting in the need for major drain repairs.
Drain Blockages
The ground is icy cold during winter in the City, and even liquid freezing rain turns to ice as it runs underground. As soon as this happens it begins to build up ice in the drains, and any garden or storm debris that enters backs up against the ice to form a dam. Soon, your Toronto drain can be blocked solid and there’s no way to get into it to clear itß. Your Toronto plumber can’t even open the drains up in mid-winter cold. Prevent freezing rain from blocking your drains by ensuring that they are cleaned out before the real cold weather arrives, and flushing them out regularly with de-icer during the cold season.
It’s great to stay warm and dry indoors during the freezing December rain in Toronto, but you need peace of mind that the weather isn’t doing damage that’s going to cost you money.
