No matter where you live in the U.S., chances are you experience your fair share of natural disasters. If it’s not flooding or rockslides, it could be hurricanes or tornadoes. Fortunately, with the summer months upon us, you have time to prepare your home to minimize the risk of damage without having to work in the rain or snow.
Projects to Protect Your Home
Cleaning your gutters, down pipes, and drains is the surest way to avoid blockages. Blockages can lead to water overflowing under the eaves and straight into the roof cavity. The goal is to do whatever you can to direct water away from the home and to prevent it from pooling.
Inspect the trees in your yard and identify any branches that may fall on your home or property during strong winds or a rainstorm. Cutting back the branches that are most likely to fall can help you avoid an expensive repair or a complicated insurance claim.
It’s easy to take a roof for granted until you realize it’s your first line of defense against whatever Mother Nature throws your way. Inspect your roof, looking for loose or missing shingles as well as wear and tear. Simply reattaching and replacing shingles can go a long way toward protecting your house from damage.
Before the next storm hits, walk through your home to check for any electronics that are not already plugged into a dedicated surge-protected outlet. If needed, single surge protector plugs can be purchased for as little as $3 a piece, and multi-outlet surge protector strips can be found for less than $10.
Water should run away from your home. If the soil around your foundation is currently pitched toward the house, add dirt to the area and reshape it to slope away from the house. Any rain that hits your home is less likely to gather at the foundation and leak in.
Finally, before the next major weather event, scan your patio, balcony, and yard to determine which items could become missiles in a storm. For example, outdoor furniture, lightweight swing sets, trampolines, kids’ toys, and yard decor can be picked up and blown around, damaging anything they hit. Stake or tie down anything that you can’t move inside.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
