Storm Damage Restoration Salt Lake City Homeowners Depend On

Salt Lake City’s place at the foot of the Wasatch makes wind its defining hazard. Under the right setup, downslope canyon winds pour out of City Creek, Emigration, and Parleys across the east bench with gusts that can reach highway speeds, stripping shingles, throwing debris, and dropping full trees onto roofs, fences, and utility lines. The 2011 windstorm that battered the Avenues is the memorable example, and the higher, more exposed lots take the worst of it.

Winter piles on from above. The benches pile up deep snow, and the constant freeze and thaw builds ice dams at the roof edge that force meltwater back beneath the shingles into the attic. Complicated rooflines on older homes hold snow in the roof troughs, where it settles and works inside once the storm passes.

After that, the runoff heads downhill. Heavy snowmelt drives up the water bearing on foundations, and lower-lying basements on the west side feel it first. Wind, heavy snow, and runoff each take a different route in, and reading the neighborhood and exposure of a home tells our crews where to begin.

Salt Lake City’s east-bench neighborhoods take the brunt of the canyon winds, and their storm damage often looks different from the rest of the city. Homes tucked against the mouths of City Creek, Emigration, and Parleys canyons catch funneled gusts that can peel roofing and drive rain sideways under the eaves, while lots farther out on the valley floor see less wind but more standing water once the runoff arrives. Knowing which pattern a neighborhood faces tells our crews whether to look up at the roof or down at the foundation first.