Plan now to repair winter damage to home

You may think you're done with a tough winter, but what about your house?

Vicious freeze-thaw-refreeze cycles play havoc with your roof, windows, siding and gutters long after snow and cold yield to a warm spring sun. Toss in the impact of accumulated debris, and you've got a real mess.

In summary, one expert says your first spring projects may well be to repair damage inflicted by months of wintry onslaughts.

"Winter is hard enough, but if homeowners don't deal now with problems caused by snow and ice, they'll deal with winter aftereffects all year long," says David Steed, Vice President of Exterior Products for Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse.

His advice starts with a visual inspection of just about every exterior portion of the home. Some problems are more obvious than others, such as warped shingles and siding, gutters that sag or have pulled away from fascia board, and leaking windows.

"Your roof is what really suffers," says Steed. Snow melt can seep beneath shingles and refreeze at night. The moisture can damage shingles and leak into the home. If you have access to your attic, use a flashlight to look for wet spots in roof sub-layers above the rafters.

"Spot repairs to a roof can be effective, but if you miss tiny problems, you'll end up with bigger troubles," says Steed, who estimates repair costs per square foot are far less for a total roof replacement than treating damage one small spot at a time.

Accumulated snow and ice can push gutters away from fascia board, leaving vulnerable eaves and roof edges prone to water damage. The expand-and-contract action of ice will wedge between gutter seams, a frequent cause of leaks.