Is your home and property ready for the winter season?

Winter weather can be hard on your home and protecting it from the elements can help prevent water damage and flooding. Following these tips will help protect your property, along with our stormwater drainage system which collects rain and melted snow across and returns it to nearby creeks.

Indoor maintenance

When was the last time you checked your home’s foundation?

Checking for leaks in basement walls, floors, windows, or foundation and ensuring ground-level windows and doors are properly weatherproofed and in good repair will help prevent any unwanted water damage.

Floods can happen quickly and without warning at any time of the year. By learning what to do before, during and after flooding can help keep yourself, your family and your property safe.

If you live in a high-risk area, consider having an electrician raise the location of electrical outlets. Raising storage containers, keeping appliances off of the floor and moving valuable items out of the basement can also help reduce the risk of damage.

Outdoor maintenance

When winter weather hits, it’s important to clear the snow and ice from your home’s foundation, exterior pipes and window wells in addition to shovelling your driveway, stairs and sidewalks.

• After a snowstorm, pile the snow at least 2 metres away from your foundation. Water that collects near the base of your home can find its way indoors through any small cracks or openings.
• Keep your exterior exhaust pipes and vents for your furnace, dryer, stove, or fireplace, clear of snow or ice.
• Clear any build up of snow inside window wells, water can seep into your basement when it begins to thaw.
• Check that your roof is in good condition, especially when the surface of your is warm enough to melt the snow but the air temperature around is cool enough to freeze it. This can lead to water being able to penetrate your home.
• Disconnecting downspouts from underground connections and extending them at least 2 metres (6 feet) can help redirect water away from your home’s foundation and into roadside storm drains. However, avoid redirecting any water towards other properties, as it could create dangerous icy conditions if it refreezes.
• Ensure that downspout extensions can flow freely away from your home and that any roadside catch basins or private storm drains on your property are clear of snow, ice or debris.

As a reminder to homeowners, please keep litter, pet waste, leaves, grass and other debris out of street gutters, storm drains and ditches. Likewise, be mindful of cleaning products, fertilizers, auto fluids and chemicals going down storm drains.

If you are unable to safely clear a roadside storm drain, residents can call 311 to report blockages and for maintenance.

For more information, visit mississauga.ca/stormwater or call 311.

Tags

• Emergency and Preparedness
• Snow Removal and Maintenance
• Stormwater