Mother nature can wreak havoc on your home with electrical storms, hurricanes, floods and tornadoes. Even if you have a considerable insurance policy covering natural disasters, it’s best to make repairs and upgrades to your home before a storm rolls in. You know, protect your home from mother nature to try and avoid as much damage as possible, because insurance claims can take several weeks or months to finalize. No one wants to live with a damaged roof or crippled electrical system waiting for a payment approval.
6 best ways to protect your home from mother nature
You can protect your home from the elements by implementing the following suggestions.
Inspect Your Electrical System
A fierce electrical storm can damage your home’s wiring and the electronics connected to your home’s power grid. If a power surge occurs, appliances like electric ovens, refrigerators, microwaves and dishwashers can be damaged or destroyed. Power strips often protect what’s plugged into them. However, most of us plug our heavy appliances directly into a wall socket. To safeguard your home’s electrical products and wiring, you can install a whole home surge protector. The surge protector is installed in your circuit breaker and protects all of your circuits from electrical damage.
Insulate Doors and Windows
Improperly sealed doors and windows let in air and moisture, raising your utility bills. The intense heat of summer and cold of winter can weaken the seals when the structures expand or contract according to the temperature. A small crack in the sealant can eventually become a large hole that attracts insects into your home. The hole can also lead to structural damage if moisture begins to deteriorate the wood and cause rotting. Remove your aging weatherstripping and caulking and insulate your windows and doors with a premium sealant.
Seal Your Driveway and Walkways
Before an ice storm or lengthy winter freeze damages your driveway, patio or walkways, you can clean the areas with a pressure washer and patch any cracks with sealant. When water freezes in small cracks in your concrete, it enlarges the gap and eventually forms a pit. Uneven driveways are damaging to your vehicle’s suspension and may lower your property values. If you’re unable to seal the cracks, you can fill them with fine-grained gravel before the cold weather takes hold.
Check For Leaking Pipes
Leaking pipes can cause considerable damage to your flooring, drywall and support beams. They can also attract moisture-loving insects like cockroaches and increase your water bill. Cockroaches are some of mother’s nature’s most irritating and hazardous pests. They are one of the most common carriers of disease and can quickly invade and infest your home unless they’re treated by a pest control specialist promptly. To minimize your risk of an insect infestation, you should check for leaking plumbing and keep your kitchen clean and sanitized. If moisture becomes an issue in your home, you may have to install a dehumidifier to keep your house dry.
Remove Risky Trees
Tall trees growing close to your home can do considerable damage if they’re broken during a heavy storm. If you’re unable to have the trees removed, you can prune any branches that may be blown into your roof or windows. Healthy trees are less likely to break or crack, but an unhealthy one may have a damaged root system that will cause the tree to fall during heavy rain or high winds. Remove all diseased trees from your property or cut them until only a stump remains.
Store Large Items in a Garage or Storage Shed
Outdoor accessories like grills, lawn chairs and garden decorations can become projectiles during a tornado or hurricane. Before a threatening storm rolls in, you should store all of your equipment in a garage or storage shed. Items that you’re unable to move due to a lack of storage space can be secured with stakes and sturdy cords. Secure the object at four points in the ground and use a mallet to hammer the stakes securely into the ground.
The elements can cause substantial damage to your home if your property is unprotected, but you can use the previous tips to protect your investment.
About the Writer: Paisley Hansen is a freelance writer and expert in health and fitness. She also developed a passion for traveling during her college years. Today she spends most of her time writing about the things she loves.
