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How To Prevent Water Damage From Our Weekend Thaw

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- After spending part of the week in a deep freeze, we're thawing out this weekend.

But we all know the warmth, comes with a price and sometimes that comes in the form of water damage.

In Minnesota terms, this day can simply be described as, well in 5-year-old Lucy Saltzman of Maple Grove's word, "Warm!"

Lucy and her 9-year-old brother, Cy, enjoyed the mild Sunday with fewer accessories.

"It's like one of the winter days that you don't need to wear gloves or anything," Cy Saltzman said.

As much fun as is to be had on this kind of day, their dad knows there's also business to tend to.

"We're trying to keep a dry basement and we're trying to keep those soils from getting saturated to where they could expand and cause foundation problems," Reuben Saltzman said.

Reuben Saltzman is a home inspector. He says black, corrugated pipes leading underground from the sub pump are dangerous.

"Right before you get a thaw like this, a melt, it'd be a good idea to disconnect that. Just let that water discharge to the outside and go down the lawn and run down the hill or whatever," Reuben said.

He says wide open pipes that lead directly outside should be fine. And so should outdoor faucets that have pipes going deep into the wall.

But the short spigots can be dicey.

"You may end up with a problem once things start getting warm because the faucet may have frozen and burst but it may not actually be leaking inside the house," Reuben said.

If you do have these faucets, there's a quick inside fix. Saltzman says to flip the water off to outdoor spigots.

And don't forget about the gutters.

"You've got a lot of melt off the roof.  All the water's gonna be coming down here, and we got a nice extension taking your water out past the edge of the landscape," Reuben said.

Just a few ways to prepare for the beautifully as Lucy say, "warm" weather.

You may be thinking - what about ice dams? Here are some tips to prevent your home from having ice dams.

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