Preparing Your House For Winter Starts With Ventilation And Smart Maintenance

A scratchy throat and a pounding head turned into a hard look at what winter really does to a house—and how to stop small issues from becoming big, expensive messes. We open with the realities of backup teams and why a multi-inspector firm keeps your project on track when life happens, then shift into the seasonal steps that keep water out, heat in, and stress low.

We get practical about cold-weather prep: disconnecting hoses and insulating hose bibs, clearing gutters so downspouts actually move water away, and accepting that unconditioned garages crack because materials move with temperature swings. From there, we pull back the attic hatch and get specific about ventilation and insulation—how ice damming forms, why icicles are a warning sign, and the simple checks that prevent water from backing under shingles. If you’ve ever seen a new roof still struggle in winter, we explain the hidden workmanship gaps we find: ridge vents without a cutout, soffit intake stuffed with insulation, and gable vents left to short-circuit airflow. We also share practical venting guidelines, when to use baffles, and why hipped roofs often need more balanced intake.

Maintenance isn’t just for cars. A home has more parts, more pathways for moisture, and more ways to fail quietly before you notice. That’s why we advocate routine maintenance inspections every couple of years, even if we didn’t do your original home inspection. An unbiased set of eyes pays for itself by catching ventilation errors, missing insulation, and risky shortcuts after a roof install. And if you’re choosing a real estate agent, we explain how to vet for thoroughness and why asking an inspector for candid feedback can save you headaches later.

Ready to winter-proof your place and dodge ice dams, mold, and premature roof wear? Hit follow, share this with a homeowner friend, and leave a quick review to tell us the one winter task you’re tackling this week.

Transcript

Sick Day And Seasonal Shift

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast. Jim and Laura here, of course, the office goddess.

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Hello, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Alright, so I'm not feeling good today. I noticed. Yes, I don't get sick very often, but when I do.

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Holy macaroni.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

All right.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Okay, so ladies, I have a question for you. So there's woman cold and man cold. Woman cold. We suck it up. We're getting the kids. We're doing the laundry. We're, you know, we're being us. Man cold. Uh I need snuggles with the puppy. I just I just need to sit in the TV, watch Snuggles, puppy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Whimpering every couple of minutes.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

I do admit I I do whimper. I probably sound pretty pathetic when I don't feel good. Yes, you do. But my nose is overall is fine. My throat is a little scratchy, but nothing big. It's my head. So I wonder if I have a sinus infection going on. But I don't know. And does this happen once a year to me?

SPEAKER_02 1:05

About this time.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Is it about this time?

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Because I usually get it like change of season, like to fall, like fall to winter, and then like spring to summer is when I get hit the hardest.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

No, you have bronchitis. I get bronchitis. Yeah. So anyway. Not a whimper. No, she's not whimpered. But so my feeling like crab today made me think that he was thinking. Alright, change the seasons. Because you're gonna get bronchitis, likely, unless you like take real extra care of like echinacea and other things. You're you're you're probably gonna get that.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

And I could just stay in the house and not leave.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

That would be even better. According to you, I get this thing once a year, like a sinus infection, it just hurts. I'm gonna bend over and then stand up the pressure on my head, it just sucks. So I I did have an inspection schedule for tomorrow, but one of the other inspectors is gonna do it for me, which is one of the benefits of using a home inspection company that has multi-inspectors.

SPEAKER_02 2:11

Something like this happens, you get backup.

Multi-Inspector Backup Benefits

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Yeah, so if somebody's sick or they're on vacation. Or an emergency happens. Yes, somebody else can fill in. So that that's a huge benefit for multi-inspector companies to recommend those. But it also had me thinking about your how and we mentioned this before. Your house has more parts to it than your car does. But yet you expect something to go wrong for your car every year or two. You're gonna expect to change the tires, change the braid. You gotta change the oil every year.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Oil's like every 5,000, depending on the oil now.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

They got better oils now. So every 5,000 miles, you I think I seen one with 8,500 the other day. I don't know if I trust that, but change the oil. There are things that wear out, just like your roof on your house. If it's shingled, that's a wear part. Mellow's a wear part, also, but it will like 40 years. 40, 50 years, which is awesome.

SPEAKER_02 3:08

And there's stuff that they can coat it with that can extend it even longer.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

Correct. So change the season, had me thinking about houses and how you for the change of season, you need to get that house ready. And I know something we're gonna be doing because it's gonna be, I think, 20 degrees.

SPEAKER_02 3:27

Monday?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Monday morning, Tuesday night, somewhere around there. It's gonna be like 20 degrees. It's gonna be a low.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

So which is why Laura was out putting stuff in the chicken cootin.

SPEAKER_01 3:38

Taking care of the chickens, and we're gonna take the hose off the hose bib and then put the insulation thing over that hose bib to help keep it from freezing.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

So we're gonna do that, but uh but the expansion contraction because it's changing temperatures. Why people ask us about like a garage? If it's a finished garage, often there are all kinds of cracks in the drywall in the garage. Well, the garages are not heated or cooled.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Typically. I have seen some nice ones.

Homes Need Routine Maintenance

SPEAKER_01 4:11

We have seen some, but if you think about Ohio, that thing's gonna go from 100 degrees during the summers, maybe a little bit hotter, depending upon the ventilation in that garage. 100 degrees down to maybe 10 below. That is a huge temperature swing for that drywall and the joint. So you're gonna expect movement and some cracks in that is not a big deal. But you do need to take care of your house and expect some issues to come up.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

Well, and that's why we suggest having maintenance inspections. You move into your house, you know, you've you've done your real estate transaction, you move in. Two years later, give us a call to come back out. Because let's face it, who wants to go crawling around their call space or you know, climbing up through their attic and not wanting to go through the floor of the attic down into your living room? I mean, that's that that's what a home inspector is for. They they know what to look for, it makes it so much nicer, and then you get your honeydew list.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Yep. And if we did not do that original inspection of the house, we could do it inspection of any house. We've done maintenance inspection for things for the state. Yeah. Some of the buildings they've owned, historical connection, historical connection, yep. So we do not have to have done the home and the building inspection when they were buying the place. It could be a maintenance inspection as well. But yeah, this is the time of year. Get that checked out. Yeah, get things checked out. You might get sick. I got sick. Laura's not feeling great. You got a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

I get I'm starting that cough that I always get this time of year.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

But it's that time of year, so I'm not doing an inspection tomorrow, but we do have a backup inspector.

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

Which in this case he's being the backup, but he does a great job.

SPEAKER_02 5:56

Oh, yeah. He's he's been with us the longest now.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

But you need to take care of your house and expect things to come across, and then make sure you have backups for various things that can pop up.

SPEAKER_02 6:07

And we need to talk about um damming, ice damming at some point, and explain that a little bit better for people in a next podcast.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

Well, we can hit we can hit that right now, real quick.

Prepping For A Hard Freeze

SPEAKER_00 6:18

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SPEAKER_01 6:44

So ice damming, when you drive around this winter, or maybe you remember from last winter, you'll see a ton of ice build up on the lower edges of the roof, like just above the gutters, maybe on top of the gutters.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

So make the really cool icles that drip down.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

They can also, the weight of that, will rip off your gutters. Because all the way anyway, this happens. It's a combination issue. Not enough ventilation and not enough insulation, or some combination of those two things. So because what happens, the attic, because it's peaked, it's warm at the top because warm air rises, so the snow on the roof melts at the top, and it starts running down the roof toward the gutter. Well, as it goes down, the that roof surface is a little bit cooler because of ventilation and heat rising to the top, so it refreezes. Assuming your house is right at that edge. Right at that edge. Yep. So it will refreeze, and over time that ice builds up. So you got two days where it melts and refreezes, does that repeatedly? That ice gets built up thick enough over near your gutter, gutter edge, that the water run down, it can't go continue down because it's so built up and flat there that it runs back towards your house underneath the shingles and becomes a roof leak.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

And you don't want that.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

No. So what you should do, if you if you've had this in in the past, get up in that attic, take a peek, make certain you have ventilation, good ventilation in that attic space. It's amazing how many roofers that we've seen, they put on a new roof and they do the ventilation wrong.

Drywall Cracks And Temperature Swings

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Oh, yeah, it's it's crazy. In fact, we've got a couple of clients that we did roof inspections for them after a roof install, and they've actually contacted attorneys because ventilation wasn't done right and they had a lot of mold in their house.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Yes. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

So, you know, be careful. If you're doing a roof install and it's a new roof, tell them you're gonna have a home inspector come out and look at the job before you give them that final check.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Yeah, the house you're talking about, the lawsuit, the owner to the roofer, is they had ventilation. They were way too small. There's no there's no way there's enough ventilation for the and the amount of condensation and mold going up there is evidence that it is just not it's not working right. Not at all, like it should. So you can have have us come out, take a look. So you it could there could be no ventilation. We've seen that no ventilation.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

Like on new builds, like this was like a one-owner house, and the the builder never put insulation in in his attic. That was just within the past two months we found that.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Oh, yeah, I do remember that. You remember that? Yeah, I didn't do that in Spectra, but yeah. So you could have not enough ventilation where the vents are not big enough, or they shoved insulation and they blocked the vents, or the baffles are blocking the vents. You can have that as well.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Or do you remember the really nifty system that the guy built with the pulley system to open and close the ventilation?

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Yeah, you all right, just because it's winter, you should not your attic space should always be vented.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

It should always breathe.

SPEAKER_01 10:14

Always vent it out. I know you're thinking like, all right, let me close this.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Let me close this up.

Why Maintenance Inspections Matter

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Let me keep the heat up inside here. And first theory, first level thinking, that's a good idea. Let's keep the heat in here. No, no, because you're also trapping moisture, and that roof surface is gonna be very cold during the winter, especially at night, and that's where you're gonna get all kinds of condensation forming up there, which then leads to mold and rot, and you totally screwed up your roof system.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

So don't do that.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Also, let it breathe. Yeah, let it breathe. Also, we've seen roofers, they will add a ridge vent, but they didn't add soffit vents. They they they left the gable vents. Gable vents and soffit vents are not a good combination.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

You said gable and ridge vents are not a good combination.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Correct, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

You you didn't say that. You said gable and soffit are not a good combination.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Well, that would not be a good combination. But usually what we're seeing is a ridge vent and they have the gable vent. No, the gable vents aren't aren't good. You only got that one little space at that top of that triangle, looking at the end of the building, end of the house. It only goes that one little space up. Good soft vents are on all the way on the underside of the lower edge of the roof, and you got pretty uniform air flowing in, going up all the way underneath the roof surface, and then going out through the top. Gable vent kind of shorts circuits that good ventilation type. So it's so the type of ventilation you have works as well. I've also seen roofers put the the ridge vent on top of the roof, but then never cut the gap for the air to actually flow out through the root roof vent. They just I don't know, they just lazy forgot. There's no way you can forget doing that.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

I don't know. I'm trying to be nice. Well, we saw not even long enough. Like, aren't ridge vents supposed to be almost like a foot from either end of the peak?

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Yes, some of the manufacturers do recommend the ridge vent be pretty almost the whole entire length, like a foot or so off the edge is is good. Some of the builders are going by, yeah, we we need just one square foot of ventilation for every 300 square feet of attic floor space. Not that is not a good standard. I mean, it depends on the area you're at, but here in Ohio, that is not enough. That is not enough. One square foot for every 150 is better. But I think it also changes because of the type of roof you have. If you have a gable vent, all right, you got two roof planes. If you have a hipped roof, you got four roof planes. You got a lot more surface area to collect the heat. And if your shingles get hot because lack of ventilation, they'll get hotter, they're gonna age quicker. And here you and you just lost three to five years worth of use of your uh roof.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

But on an up note, the roofing company gets another job three to five years sooner.

Ice Damming Explained

SPEAKER_01 13:03

Possibly, but they should not. No, they shouldn't. That's why you should always hire a home inspector to take a look at it. Because we don't do repairs, we're unbiased. Our our best benefit is to tell you exactly what's going on with the house, which is exactly in a home buyer's best benefit. Or a homeowner. Or homeowner. Believe it or not, if you're a home buyer, some agents do not recommend the most thorough home inspectors. So vet your real estate agent well. In fact, I recommend you contact a home inspector. Go, hey, I have these three agents I'm considering using.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

What do you know?

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Do you have anybody you would immediately strike off your list?

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Or somebody you would immediately recommend?

SPEAKER_01 13:46

Yes, like that could be done as well. So I'd recommend doing that. That that will be the new thing for home buyers is to ask a home inspector who they recommend.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

We see it all. We see the good, the bad, and the ugly from buying and selling, and we hear all the stories. So your best bet is to call a home inspector.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yep. All right, I think that's about it. Can you think of anything else, Laura? I'm kind of done, my head's hurting.

SPEAKER_02 14:14

That's no, why don't you be done, baby?

SPEAKER_01 14:16

All right, I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go actually I gotta upload this, edit if I need to, and then I'm gonna go whimper on the couch and watch TV, is what I'm gonna do.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

You snuggle with your puppy and you go whimper.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

I am, I'm gonna snuggle with a dog, and that will be it. All right, thank you, everybody. Bye. All right, bye bye.