NILES, Ohio - One week it's below zero another week it's near 60.  That's Ohio for you.
It's rough on us but even rougher on our homes especially if you aren't home to check on them.

Kevin Wyndham from Service Masters by Lewis Construction, said "There's been a  lot of pipe breaks during the freeze and now people are coming home from Florida and from vacation and they are going to find something happened to their house."

He says he's gotten a lot of calls from people finding a flooded home after checking the basement of a snowbird neighbor who is still down south. 

From frozen pipes to your roof. Roofers are out in full force this week making repairs because of the freeze-thaw extremes.  
One contractor says doing maintenance on your roof and gutters can make a big difference.

"It's always good to have a checklist to go through each year. Make sure your drains are cleaned out, your gutters are cleaned out and debris is off the roof," said Chris Cruciger of Roof Rite, Inc.

Proper insulating and ventilating of your roof can guard against ice build up on your roof.

Now look at your basement.  Is your sump pump working?  Do you have a battery back-up in case the power goes out?
A to Z plumbing says you also need to make sure the sump's discharge line is getting that water far away from your home. If it's running constantly, that could be a problem.

"That water will go out the discharge pipe and overflow the downspout and drain into the foundation and just keep repeating the cycle. If that happens look for erosion around the downspout where it enters the ground," said Brian Pritchard from A to Z Plumbing.  Pritchard says people can come visit their booth at a Home Show scheduled for this weekend at the Metroplex to see how new technology is making sump pumps more dependable.