New England gives you three distinct water threats a year, and they enter a building in completely different ways. Preparing for the wrong one is how people end up surprised.
Fall: before the nor'easters
Autumn storms bring wind-driven rain, which behaves differently from ordinary rainfall. Instead of falling onto surfaces it is pushed horizontally into them — under shingle edges, past window flashing, into siding joints that shed vertical water perfectly well.
- Clear gutters and downspouts completely. A blocked gutter in a nor'easter sends water over the edge and directly against the foundation.
- Extend downspouts away from the foundation — several feet, not a few inches.
- Check roof flashing around chimneys, vents, and valleys. These are where nearly all roof leaks start, not in the open field of shingles.
- Trim limbs that overhang the roof. Wet wood plus wind is how a limb becomes a hole.
- Test the sump pump before you need it, and consider a battery backup — storms and power outages arrive together.
- Know where your water shutoff is, and make sure it actually turns.
Winter: ice dams are a heat problem
Here is the thing most homeowners get wrong. An ice dam forms because heat escaping from your living space warms the roof deck, melting snow from underneath. That meltwater runs down until it reaches the eave, which is cold because there is no living space beneath it, and refreezes into a ridge. Water then backs up behind that ridge and works its way under the shingles — which are designed to shed water flowing down, not to hold back standing water.
That means the durable fix is not raking snow, and it is not gutter heat cable. It is stopping the heat loss:
- Air-seal penetrations between the living space and the attic — recessed lights, bath fans, wiring and plumbing chases, the attic hatch
- Bring attic insulation to an adequate depth, evenly, without blocking soffit vents
- Verify soffit and ridge ventilation is actually moving air, so the attic stays close to outdoor temperature
- Confirm bath and kitchen fans vent outside the building and not into the attic — this one is extremely common and quietly destructive
Heat cable and roof raking are worth doing when you already have a problem this winter. They treat the symptom while you plan the real fix for the off-season.
Spring: groundwater and melt
Spring is when the water comes from below. Saturated ground, snowmelt, and high water tables push against foundations, and across much of the Seacoast — especially near the tidal rivers in Exeter, Newmarket, and Dover — the water table stays high enough that basements and crawlspaces stay damp for weeks.
- Confirm grading slopes away from the house; settled soil against a foundation is a common culprit
- Watch for efflorescence — white mineral deposits on basement walls indicate water moving through masonry
- Run the sump pump through a full cycle and clean the pit
- Keep basement humidity under about 60 percent through the spring with a dehumidifier that drains rather than one you have to empty
After a storm: the first day matters most
- 1Stay away from downed lines, standing water near electrical, and anything structurally questionable. Nothing else on this list is worth an injury.
- 2Photograph everything before you move or clean anything.
- 3Stop ongoing intrusion if it can be done safely — tarping a roof or boarding an opening limits the eventual scope more than anything else you can do.
- 4Notify your insurer promptly; most policies require it.
- 5Keep receipts for mitigation purchases, which are frequently reimbursable.
- 6Get drying started. Materials that stay wet past roughly 48 hours in a warm space are where mold problems begin.
Local matters after a regional storm, when out-of-area crews are still driving in. We work from Epping, which puts most of the Seacoast inside about a half hour.
Storm Damage Recovery →