Damp Walls

Holiday Happenings On Boston’s South Shore

It’s hard to believe that, as we write this blog post, Thanksgiving and other fall and winter holidays and celebrations are just around-the-corner. It’s been another strong business year for us, and we greatly appreciate those customers and prospective customers who engaged us, or considered us, for roof installation/roof replacement work!

We love the community we live & work in, and want to help keep our fellow South Shore residents and business owners informed of the many special and meaningful 2024 holiday events and activities happening locally! So, be sure to check this list out that we recently compiled and will continue to add to!

South Shore Holiday Events and Activities

South Shore Holiday Runs, Races, Walks, Hikes — Exercise For A Cause!

South Shore Family Events and Activities

South Shore Holiday Music Events

As mentioned above, we’ll continue to add to this post as we learn of new South Shore holiday activities and events, so please check back!

Keeping Your Home and Your Family Safe During The HolidaysThis is a bright and cheerful holiday image that shows a cornucopia (horn-shaped basket) with brightly colored fruit (red and green apples) and green and yellow squash spilling out onto a table with red and yellow light candles and a string of white twinkle lights hanging near the window in the background.

As we outlined in our previous blog posts (shared below), some common holiday home damage and health risks/concerns can be avoided by taking necessary precautions. So, be sure to take the time to read these to ensure your family and guests enjoy a safe and happy holiday season! And, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team of roofing experts when we can be of assistance this holiday season and winter!

 

What Are Ice Dams, and How Can They Damage Your Roof?

Act Now So That Ice Dams Don’t Dampen Your Holiday Spirit and Festivities!

Holiday Decorating Tips – Decorate Your Roof Safely Pt. 2

Holiday Decorating Tips – Decorate Your Roof Safely Pt. 1

Why Wet Home and Office Walls Warrant Taking Immediate Action

Making Your Home Holiday-Ready: Easy, Inexpensive Ideas To Make It Both Safe & Inviting

Be Carbon-Monoxide Smart to Keep Loved Ones Safe This Winter

Plan Now to Avoid Singing The Power-Outage Blues This Winter

How to Prevent Snow and Ice from Damaging Your Roof

Why Your Attic and Roof May Be Wet On A Dry Winter Day

8 Steps To Keep Your Home and Family Merry & Safe This Winter and Holiday Season

Spring Cleaning Checklist For Your New England Home

The days are getting longer, the temperatures are slowly rising, and the first flowers will soon be poking their heads out of the ground. Yes, while it may feel impossible and long-overdue, as it does every year without fail, spring will soon have arrived in New England and on Boston’s South Shore!

Like January and September, spring is a time for new beginnings. It’s time to clean out the old and make way for the new! In this post, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about spring cleaning your house and your roof! So whether you’re a spring cleaning newbie and just learning the spring-cleaning ropes, or you’re looking for some extra tips related to your annual spring cleaning routine, read on!

Why Create and Follow A Spring Cleaning Checklist?

The best way to get your home clean for spring is by using a checklist. This will ensure that you don’t miss any essential areas and complete the job promptly (we’ve found having a checklist motivates one to complete tasks, so you receive the satisfaction of checking them off your list).

Whether you create and update your spring cleaning checklist via paper or an online document such as a Google sheet or Excel worksheet, some of the most common areas to focus on during home spring cleaning and incorporate in your checklist include:

  • Deep cleaning kitchens and pantries.
  • Giving all fixtures, surfaces, and objects in your home a good and thorough dusting
  • Scrubbing all bathroom surfaces from top to bottom
  • Cleaning all windows and windowsills – inside and out (depending on how far off the ground your windows are you may need to hire a professional window cleaner to do the outside work safely)
  • Cleaning your grout and tile, professionally, if possible, to preserve its longevity
  • Thoroughly dusting and washing baseboards and molding
  • Cleaning dirty spots off the wall and doorways and on or near light switch plates
  • Refreshing your entryway with new runners and welcome mats
  • Using touch-up paint where needed, or re-painting walls entirely
  • Cleaning your carpets and rugs with a carpet cleaner, or hiring a rug cleaning service
  • Inspecting the home for mold, cracks, and leaks. Learn why wet walls require immediate action.
  • This is also a great time for checking the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, and replacing them, as needed.

Roof Spring Cleaning

Just as you need to clean your home in the spring, you also need to clean off your roof. This is especially important if you live in an area like Massachusetts that sees a lot of rain or snow. After all, the winter weather can do a lot of damage, and it’s important to get ahead of any potential problems. A dirty roof can lead to all sorts of issues, such as leaks and water damage.

There are many different things that you can do to get your South Shore roof ready for spring. However, here are a few of the most important ones:

  • Inspect the Roof for Damage: Take a look at your roof for any damage that may have occurred over the winter. We suggest you do this by looking up at your roof vs. climbing up on your roof – we don’t want anyone to slip or fall, unnecessarily. Sometimes, it means standing far back in your driveway or yard, so that you can look at your roof from a distance. If you notice an area of your roof that looks like it’s been damaged and needs fixing, give our South Shore roofing contractors a call and we can access whether you need our services related to residential roof repair or roof replacement. Check out these warning signs it may be time to replace your roof.
  • Clear Debris from Gutters: If you can do it safely yourself, make sure to clear out all the debris from your gutters. This will help ensure that rain water can flow freely and not cause any damage.

Need more spring cleaning ideas and inspiration? Check out last year’s spring cleaning hacks blog post: https://www.southshoreroofers.com/tag/spring-cleaning/

How Our South Shore Roofing Experts Can Help

Don’t risk getting up on your roof to try to mend yourself any damage that you may see. Both being up on the roof, and trying to fix the roof yourself, could lead to undesirable consequences. One of the professional roofers on the South Shore Roofing team can inspect the roof and determine what needs to be done to fix it. They can also provide advice on how to prevent future damage. If you’re looking for a reliable and experienced roofing company, be sure to contact South Shore Roofers! We have been providing quality roofing services for many years, and we’re seasoned roofing contractors who’ve helped many South Shore businesses and families get their home roof or business/commercial roof ready for spring. So, reach out today!

 

 

 

8 Steps To Keep Your Home and Family Merry & Safe This Winter and Holiday Season

Because of the restrictions and limitations that COVID19 placed on the 2020 holiday season, we’re all particularly excited about holiday home decorating safety celebrating the holidays in 2021, right? As South Shore roofing contractors, we’re seeing and hearing from local friends, family, and customers that they plan to go all out with holiday shopping, home get-togethers (even if they keep them small or stick to just family based on their pandemic comfort level), and decorating the inside and outside of their homes.

We think you’ll agree that, with all that “stepped-up” holiday activity, it’s more important than ever that we all do all we can to protect our South Shore homes and families, by putting the following measures in place:

Hanukkah Holiday SafetyThe team of roofing experts at our South Shore roofing company is always available to talk with you about any of the following & more!: attic ventilation, attic air circulation; roof moisture, wall moisture, or ceiling moisture; ice dam prevention, ice dam removal; new home roof installation; and home roof replacement. Never hesistate to reach out to see if we can be of service related to home safety measures or home challenges.

 

 

We wish all our readers a safe and happy holiday season and winter!

 

Why Your Attic and Roof May Be Wet On A Dry Winter Day

Often, during winter, homeowners are surprised to see water drips and droplets on attic ceilings, walls, and the underside of their roof, when it’s not even raining or snowing outside! As shown in the picture below, sometimes, it seems to those who own a home that their roof, wall, or ceilings are crying because of water droplets that appear around nails. After spending a lot of physical and emotional energy trying to figure out the source of the moisture, they end up calling professional roofing contractors, like South Shore Roofing, to investigate the source of wet wood in their home.

Many New England homeowners don’t realize that moisture can still build up in the top floor of their home or underneath their roof on cool, dry, winter days because of condensation challenges. Condensation occurs when attics are too warm and there’s no way for air to escape outdoors or to circulate. Sure, everyone would prefer that their attic feel warm & cozy when they need to visit it to bring down a treasured item that’s been tucked away in the attic. But, since most of us don’t spend a lot of time in our attics, and the trade-off of having a warm attic is the build-up of annoying and damaging moisture, we’re actually better off keeping our attics cool from home-damage, health, and cost perspectives.

How to Know If You Attic or Roof is Moisture-Challenged

In addition to beads of water on walls, ceilings, or your roof, you may notice these other common signs of a moist attic or roof:

  • Staining, discoloration or warping of wood or other attic materials
  • Foggy/frosty windows
  • Musty smells
  • Mold
  • Wood rot
  • Masonry deterioration

Why You Need to Address Attic and Roof Moisture

Left untreated, attic moisture can lead to some of the unpleasant, unfavorable conditions listed in the above-section of our blog. These can, in turn, lead to expensive, extensive home damage and associated repair costs, but most importantly, can make family members very ill.

How South Shore Roofing Experts Can Help

To prevent, moisture build-up and condensation, attic temperatures should be kept as cold as the outdoors. This can be accomplished simply through improved air ventilation and circulation in your attic – basically, you want air to be able to flow both in and out of your attic. Our team of roofing specialists can undertake the following to create better airflow, and ultimately, a colder atmosphere in your attic by installing:

  • Soffit vents underneath your gutters/in your attic’s eaves to let air flow into your attic.
  • Roof ventilation at the peak of your roof, known as a ridge vent or ridge venting, which allows air to flow out. This requires an opening to be cut across your roof’s peak to expose the attic below. A ridge vent is, then, placed over that opening to allow air to exit the attic.

Say Goodbye to Moisture, and Hello to a Healthier, Safer Home

Your family and your home are your most important assets. So if you believe your roof or attic are showing signs of moisture build-up, contact us today, so that our South Shore roofing company can assess your attic and roof situation.

 

 

Why Wet Home and Office Walls Warrant Taking Immediate Action

Despite our rainy New England springs, and sometimes snowy winters, it’s not normal — or a good thing — if your South Shore home or office has wet walls, or if you’ve noticed new water stains or mold in your commercial or residential building. Sure, we’ve all experienced a fogged-up mirror or small droplets on the wall due to condensation left in the bathroom after a shower. But, such moisture should dry up within an hour or less, and your bathroom and kitchen should be the only rooms in your office or house where you experience such short-term moisture.
How To Know If Moisture Is Meddling With Your Residential or Commercial Property
In addition to having walls that are wet in appearance and touch, other signs your home or business has a moisture issue that needs to be addressed immediately include:
  • Wallpaper or wall paint that is peeling
  • Wall or ceiling stains from mold
  • Water stains on walls or ceilings
  • A musty smell or odor emanating from walls or ceilings
Why Even Your Bathroom Shouldn’t Be Bathed in Moisture
Damp, wet, or slick walls, that remain so, mean trouble for both your family’s or tenant’s health as well as your residential property’s or commercial property’s health. Mold can make both humans and pets sick. And, the longer it is left untreated, the more mold can spread — creating uninhabitable work and living spaces. Houses can literally be rendered unlivable by deadly mold that is not addressed. Plus, the cost associated with removing such mold grows exponentially along with the mold!
Common Sources of Home and Office Wall Moisture
Three of the most common sources of home and office wall moisture — and what causes them — include:
  • Inadequate drainage – Home or office dampness can stem from inadequate ground and surface drainage. Pooled water from saturated ground, downspouts, or runoff can find its way into your house or business via porous walls or cracks in your foundation.
  • Condensation – this occurs when hot, moist air hits cold, dry air — causing water droplets to form on cold surfaces, such as home and office walls. We’ve all noticed condensation in the bathroom or kitchen after a steamy shower or when the tea kettle’s been whistling
  • Leaks – this can be due to something as simple and noticeable as a leaky washing machine, dishwater, bathtub, or sink; something less obvious like roof-related leaks occurring in chimneys, vents, or skylights, or, from leaks associated with inadequate or deteriorating flashing on windows and doors; and from Mother-Nature-induced ice dams.

Why Temperature Discrepancies Can Spell Big Trouble

Many of the reasons past and new customers reach out to us at South Shore Roofing in winter months have to do with the colder temperatures we experience in the Greater Boston area. The huge difference between the temperature outside home and office buildings and the temperature inside can cause an abnormally large amount of condensation, causing walls to get and remain wet. This in turn leads to mold build-up and water and mold stains. In addition, as we discussed in our blog post about ice dams, such temperature contrasts (uneven temperatures) can occur within your home or office roof itself. The latter can also lead to leaks and water damage.

Our residential roofing contractor and commercial roofing contract experts can help you determine both the source of your wall moisture and the best way to treat it. For example, installing adequate roof ventilation in your home or office may help to control moisture levels and save you from needing a premature roof replacement. Or, perhaps, your home needs greater insulation.

Experiencing the “moisture meddling” signs we described above? Don’t try to solve or fix the problem yourself. Contact our team of professional home roofers and commercial roofers at South Shore Roofing today to ensure the good health of your family, tenants, employees, and that of your business property or residential property!