ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 16, 1996 TAG: 9601160062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Below
WATER COMING OUT of the electrical outlets or an icicle growing in the closet are homeowner nightmares as all that snow melts.
OK, so the snow's melting, temperatures are warming, and things are returning to normal.
What better time for your roof to start leaking?
A good many homeowners throughout the Roanoke and New River valleys now are having to deal with a disaster of another sort - water seepage.
And while roofers are raking in the business, insurance agents are getting a flurry - not quite a blizzard - of phone calls from anxious, sometimes impatient, homeowners.
"We would have just preferred the snowstorm not happen," said Carla Marks, an agent with Tiller Insurance, which got 10 to 15 claims Monday.
"That's more than we usually get in a year," Marks said. "They were standing outside waiting for me this morning."
Most of the problems are the same: Ice in the gutter acts like a dam, forcing the melting snow up under the shingles. From there, water will follow the path of least resistance - roof vents, nail holes, hairline cracks, electrical wiring, ceiling fans.
One woman reportedly had water coming out of her electrical outlets. Another had an icicle growing in her bedroom closet.
Barry Ousley, a manager with T.E. Gardner Co., a roofing company, had all of his crews out Monday doing estimates. Some customers had other problems, like the carport that had crashed in on a woman's car, and awnings that had ripped off under the weight of the snow.
But mostly, it was gutters.
"Every roofing company in town, I'm sure, is going to be the same way," Ousley said. About the only thing to do is take the guttering off the house, which often destroys the guttering in the process. Can't really be helped, Ousley said, when you get a block of ice frozen to aluminum.
Marks, the insurance agent, suggested homeowners who have a bad leak and can't get a roofer right away should try removing the gutters themselves, but only if they're able. (After all, why risk getting your health insurance company involved, too?)
Most homeowner policies will cover the damage and replacement costs - which run about $2,000 for an average home, she said.
There's not much that can prevent ice dams. Heating coils for gutters are expensive, and impractical for our region.
As for car problems, the insurance agents had seen only a few claims, mostly for fender benders. Seems most people were content to stay indoors during the worst of it.
There's always the exception, though. Jimmy Bray, assistant manager at Monro Muffler on Williamson Road, said business has been brisk.
"We've had quite a few where they'd drug the muffler off," Bray said. Some people apparently shoveled just enough snow to open their door and get in the car, then tried to plow through snow banks.
And he's had a few customers drive in off the interstate with severe tire problems, complaining that their car was shaking all over the road. Bray would go out in the lot and kick ice chunks out of the wheel well.
With so much ice and snow, Bray predicted that many cars will develop front-end alignment problems. Even if a driver hits an ice pack at only 5 mph, "If it's frozen solid, something's going to have to give."
LENGTH: Medium: 66 linesby CNB