5 tips to protect your home from spring melt damage

A Thunder Bay insurance expert says March is the time of year when people need to think about risks posed by the spring melt.

TD Insurance spokespersonCraig Richardson offers sometips to protect your home from water seepage and ice-damming damage:

• Shovel snow away from house.
• Check property for obstructions that prevent water from flowing.
• Check catch basins in street to see if there are any obstructions.
• Hire a professional to remove ice from your home's roof.
• Make sure your attic is well-ventilated, and has the proper amount of insulation. This will minimize ice damming.

March is the most dangerous time of year for iceaccumulation, as the temperature fluctuates above and below freezing.

That ice accumulation includes icicles and ice dams,which are larger chunks of ice that form at the bottom of sloping roofs. Most often, it's poor insulation that ultimately causes these ice dams, where one part of the roof becomes warmer than another spot lower down.

Here's an explanation from research at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ont.: