Mother Nature can be tough onto your home, especially during the summer season. Thunderstorms, tornadoes and also cyclones can create wide-ranging damage to homes and whole residential areas. Some preparation, though, will help homeowners shield their houses against severe-weather damages.
“It pays to ready your home to deal with the worst of the Mother Nature dishes out in any season,” says Ed Del Grande, a home improvement expert, author, TV host and also spokesperson for Kohler. “Damage because of storms can create expensive restorations, or even force you to leave your home completely.”
Listed here are six home developments you can embark on to help shield your house from summer storm damage:
- Repair or change windows.
Inspect the overall condition of your house’s windows as well as the weather stripping around them. Re-caulk windows where removing is worn, and substitute any home windows that are damaged. If you live in a place prone to thunder storms and also winds, for instance those from hurricanes and tornadoes, think about buying some plywood or permanent storm shutters that you can keep on hand to cover glass windows whenever a storm approaches.
- Cut trees and shrubs, and manage landscaping.
Make your lawn free of debris and also things like kids’ toys and gardening tools. During storms with high winds, debris and items on the lawn can become projectiles that damage siding and windows. Inspect trees and shrubs to make sure they’re healthy. Eradicate diseased trees, which are more likely to come down in a storm, and keep trees and shrubs trimmed to lessen the risk of branches damaging your home.
- Install a standby generator.
Power outages are a typical outcome of severe weather conditions, and losing electricity may cause further damage to the house. Automated standby power generators, just like those from Kohler, turn on within a few moments of a utility power outage, operate on propane or natural gas and are connected to the house, just like an outdoor air conditioner. Automatic standby power generators retain critical appliances operating when the electricity goes out, ensuring that you won’t go without refrigerators, sump pumps, and critical home systems like air conditioning unit. If you are interested in learning more about standby power options, visit www.KohlerGenerators.com for informational videos, sizing calculators and also other useful information.
- Install a sump pump.
Summer storms commonly bring flooding to many areas of the country. In case your home has a basement, acquiring a sump pump – which gets rid of water when it accumulates in a basin – can help prevent the costly damage due to flooding. Heavy rains can quickly fill a downstairs room with water, damaging anything stored there, as well as vital systems like furnaces or water heaters. A sump pump with an automatic sensor will switch on the minute it detects water, protecting your downstairs room even if you are not home once the flooding takes place.
- Pay attention to gutters.
Clogged gutters can result in flooding in the downstairs room and leaks in the roof during storms with heavy rainfall. Before storm season comes, check your gutters and clear them of debris. Repair or replace any damaged areas of the overall system. Rain gutters provide essential defense for the home, so if yours have seen better days, give thought to replacing them completely.
- Install roof clips/hurricane straps.
If you live in a region prone to cyclones, roof clips or hurricane straps can help ensure that the roof stays on your home in high winds. Check building codes in your area, as a few states need new construction to be built with these kinds of protections. If your home doesn’t have them, an expert can certainly retrofit your roof with clips and straps to help avoid the roof from blowing off. Losing the roof is not only a massively costly maintenance; this means you’ve also lost the part of your property that does the most to defend everything and everyone inside it.
“You can’t control weather, but you can definitely prepare for it,” Del Grande states. “And you can protect your property and family from bad weather’s worst effects. It is essential to be proactive, before storm season really gets going.”
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