Itโs important to know how to protect your home from damage. Whether itโs your first home or you’re downsizing, preventative maintenance goes a long way to preserving your investment.
When you follow these important tips, you will eliminate some common and potentially expensive headaches. Instead of worrying, youโll feel safe and secure knowing your home is protected while youโre in it or away. Hereโs what you need to know.
CONTENTS – In this article, you will learn tips to protect your home from damage, including:
- You Can Prevent Home Damage
- Clean Your Gutters
- Check the Foundation
- Install Safety Alarms
- Why You Need Home Insurance
- Final Thoughts on How to Protect Your Home
How You Can Prevent Home Damage
As they say, some things are simply unavoidable, like death and taxes. Those two things are just a part of life. In the same breath, it is important to note that you can avoid some things in life, such as preventable home damage.
Now, that may not be the case if your home gets hit by a tornado, but you can take preventative measures to mitigate many potential issues.
For instance, if a hurricane will hit the area where you live, you would bring anything on your lawn inside to prevent it from flying through your window or taking off your homeโs siding, right?
Hire a fire and water restoration company to prevent other potential risks, like water, fire, lighting, and more.
Keep reading to learn these important tips to help you prevent home damage in common circumstances.
Gutter Cleaning
Keeping your gutters clean and clear of any leaves, branches, twigs, and other debris will help prevent potential water damage to your home.
How and why will cleaning your gutters prevent water damage?
Well, according to The Frost King, โThroughout the year, debris accumulates in your gutters and clogs your downspouts. This rotting debris attracts carpenter ants and mosquitoes. It causes puddles or ice dams to form on your roof, and rooftop water eventually causes leaks.โ
Also, if your gutters are not working properly, water gushes down in sheets and may seep into your foundation and basement.
It makes total sense if you really think about it.
Keeping gutters clean and clear helps avoid those problems of leaks, water in your basement, and bug infestation.
This is probably one of the easiest preventative maintenance you can do. Itโs also a good idea to make sure your gutters are working properly and effectively guiding rainwater away from your foundation.ย
You may even want to consider installing heavy-duty 6-inch gutters with leaf guards to prevent them from getting clogged up.
Seal Your Homeโs Foundation
Similar to gutter cleaning, youโll want to make sure your homeโs foundation is sealed to prevent water damage. This means sealing any exterior foundation cracks and applying basement waterproofing on the inside to create an added layer of protection. Proper waterproofing can help you avoid costly repairs down the road by keeping moisture from seeping into the structure.
At the same time, water is not the only thing that could enter your home with an open foundation. Another big problem for many homeowners with an unsealed foundation is little critters making their way into the home.ย
Squirrels, mice, and more all have the ability to squeeze through cracks. Once they get into your home, they could chew through wires or mess with the homeโs insulation, among other things. Plus, they will keep you up with their scurrying overnight.
So, make sure your homeโs foundation is well-sealed. It will make it much harder for water and unwanted animals to enter the house.
If you do end up with a pest problem, look into getting a reputable service, like this Nashville exterminator, who can resolve it quickly.
Install Safety Alarms
This may be the most important of the three tips: have safety alarms installed.
With so many potential threats out there, sensors and alarms in your house are crucial in keeping you and your home safe.
That includes:
- Fire alarms
- Carbon monoxide detectors
- Flood sensors
These are great tools to alert you of potentially dangerous issues.
Additionally, you want to minimize the chance that an intruder tries breaking into your home. That means you may want to install an alarm system such as Ring, SimpliSafe, or Cove. They can help protect your home from unwanted visitors.
Having a secure house is reassuring when youโre home – and especially important when youโre out of town.
Related Article: Learn these 9 powerful ways to prevent burglary while youโre away
Purchase Home Insurance
This may seem obvious, but even with these three tips to prevent damage to your home, youโll want to invest in a good homeowner’s insurance policy. (In fact, your mortgage company may insist that you do.)
For maximum protection, make sure you get a policy that covers the replacement cost of your home, outdoor structures, and personal property. Also, once you decide upon the deductible you want to pay should you need to file a claim, keep that amount in your emergency fund. That way, you know youโve got what you need on hand. Hopefully, you wonโt need to use it.
Both the coverage selection and the deductible will affect the monthly premium, which will probably be a few hundred dollars each month. You can save some money when you insure both your car and your home with one carrier. Either way, itโs a small price to pay to know your home is protected in an emergency.
Final Thoughts on Preventing Home Damage
In conclusion, these home safety precautions are a necessary responsibility of homeownership. No one wants their home to be flipped upside down by a thief, burn up because of an electrical fire, or be susceptible to a flood. And if it does happen, you can have some peace of mind that youโre covered by good insurance.
So take these steps to ensure your homeโs protection today.
Continue reading more tips about keeping your home secure when you go on vacation.