6 Ways To Storm-Proof Your Home

If you’ve had weather warnings or simply happen to live in an area prone to storms, you might want to take some action to storm-proof your home. Strong winds and floods can cause devastating damage to your property and possessions.

Here are just six ways that you can get prepared.

Check for exterior dangers

There may objects outside that could get picked up by the wind in bad weather and cause major damage to your home.

The obvious danger to look out for is trees. Leaning trees or trees that have previously been damaged may need to be removed. You’ll likely need planning permission to remove a tree – in cases where it could pose a serious danger to your property planning committees will be sympathetic, but you should always get permission first. You may want to get the opinion of an arborist too.

On top of trees, consider loose objects such as garden chairs and ornaments. These could get hurled through a window or fence. They could even pose a danger to your neighbour’s home. Lock these items away in a shed or inside your home for the duration of a storm.

Fix up cracks

Any cracks in your home could allow entry to leaking water. A storm could also make these cracks worse and result in massive structural damage – a weakness in a roof could be enough to rip a whole section off. Block up small cracks with caulk. If you find anything large enough to put a pencil in, consider calling up a surveyor to see if any major work is needed.

Consider building a soakwell

A soakwell serves as a run-off for water. This can be useful in flood zones for protecting your property. There are companies such as Soakwells R Us that can design and build a soakwell catered to the land you live on. You may also want to consider ways of getting water to flow off your roof more effectively.

Install flood guards

You may want to protect your doors by installing flood guards. These could take the form of a permanent metal fixture or a removable solution such as the Hydrosnake. Alternatively, you could use the old-fashioned prevention method of buying sandbags.

Upgrade your guttering

You want to make sure that your guttering can cope with the rainfall as well as not being ripped off in strong wind. Those that live in cold regions may also want to be careful when it comes to winter as guttering can freeze up – if wind then rips this off it can cause as much damage as falling stone pillar. Seamless aluminium guttering as provided by companies such as ABC Seamless is the best solution for fending off storms.

Get insured

By far the best thing you can do is insure your property against storm damage. This will allow you money to replace any belongings that are lost, as well as allowing you to make repairs to your property. Specialist flood insurance companies are worth pursuing if normal property insurance is too high or unavailable in your area due to high flood risk. Taking preventative action will lower your rates.