How Does Salt Damage Your Home?

Now that we’ve hopefully left the cold and wet days of snow and winter behind us, there’s plenty of work to be done to get your home ready for summer. What you may not realize is that winter left a few things around your home that could be causing significant damage to your sidewalks, siding, driveway and roof.

The rock salt that’s still used on roads across the United States, with local and state governments using as much as between 10 and 20 million tons of salt are used each year. This salt builds up on surfaces cast around by rain and plows. Some homeowners add additional salt to their roof as a way to combat ice damming and to sidewalks and driveways to remove ice and snow.

Salt, unfortunately, stays around after the ice and snow has melted away. Salt residue builds up on these surfaces, and begins to cause damage to the various surfaces.

Concrete doesn’t get damaged by salt itself, but it can be damaged by the salt tainted water that can be absorbed by the concrete. Because it has a high concentration of salt, this water then freezes and expands differently than water would normally and can crack and otherwise degrade concrete.

On your roof, salt causes metal, particularly in flashing, vents, and nails to rust more quickly. If salt on your roof gets absorbed by rainfall or melting snow, it can wash down your walls, where it can cause long term damage to the glass in your windows.

The good news is, a power washing appointment with our team can help wash away salt residue on surfaces around your home and protect these surfaces from long term damage! Contact us to set up an appointment or get a quote today!