How to Save Your House From Water Damages

Depending on the severity of storms and hurricanes around your area, there may be little you can do to salvage or protect your home. This article however, is geared at preventing water damage that arises from moderate/intermediate storms and hurricanes.

While they may not tear down your home or uproot it, they can cause severe damage if you don’t take the necessary steps to minimize the possible causes of water damages. The key to having a dry home after an intermediate storm or hurricane often lies in the preventive measures that you put in place. The following tips are some of the best preventive steps you can take:

Ensure Your Gutters and Downspouts are Free of Debris

Your gutters and downspouts play a crucial role in keeping your home flood-free. These help to channel runoffs away from the home into the appropriate drainages. Unfortunately, many homeowners tend to neglect these parts of their homes, to their detriment. The weight of water or ice on a blocked gutter often means that the gutter might balk under the weight, while the soffit and fascia would be compromised.

Once this happens, the runoff falls close to the home, causing erosion and possibly compromising the basement in the process, resulting in basement flooding and landscape defacement.   

Pay Attention to Your Yard’s Slope

Your yard slope also plays a role in determining the structural foundation of your home. It should channel water away from the home, not towards it. So, if your yard isn’t sloped outwards towards the drainage or gutter, start thinking of doing that right now. The more runoff you can channel away from your home, the better your odds of preventing water damages.

If you need help, get an expert to check the gradient  near your property to determine if your yard slope is excellent.

Check Your Ceiling and Attic

What’s the state of your roof? This is an important question particularly if there are water stains on your ceiling or in the attic. A leaky roof may be able to take regular rain. But it won’t stand a chance in the face of storms and hurricanes. So, lookout for watermarks in the home.

If your roof is also structurally compromised –such as broken roof tiles, weak spots and so on- you should seriously consider hiring a roofing repair and installation expert to come fix that before it gets out of hand.

Check Surrounding Plants’ Branches and Roots

The Advocate recently published an article about an anonymous person who drilled holes in the trunks of eight Chinese pistache trees in New Orleans in the bid to kill the trees. Whoever drilled the holes did that to protect homes nearby as the trees’ roots seek out water aggressively.

Ordinarily, this wouldn’t be an issue. But when the trees are close to home, their aggressive root spreading means that they compromise the foundations of nearby homes, essentially compromising their structural integrity and leaving their basements open to flooding.

The same applies to homes with overhanging branches. 100km winds can rip these branches, slamming them into the home in the process and opening up the home for flooding and rain.

This is why you need to pay special attention to the vegetation surrounding your home. Ensure that the plants don’t damage your septic tank, drainage, pipes in the home and water system among other things.

If, unfortunately, you weren’t able to do this before your home suffered considerable water damage, you need the help of an expert water damage repair service in Florida. And even if you tried your best and still hit very badly by the hurricane or storm, call central florida commercial services  to repair your home and property.