How to Protect Your Florida Home from Storm Damage
Florida benefits from glorious sunshine, but June brings adverse storms including hurricanes. If you fail to fortify your home, horrific storms will rip their way through with ease, leaving your life in tatters. To stand a better chance of making it through hurricane season, follow this short guide for protecting your Florida property.
Tree Management
There are over 460 different species of shrubs and trees in Florida, meaning there are plenty of choices when it comes to making your yard look great. However, unruly trees can cause significant damage during a storm – all it will take is one loose branch.
Make sure you spend time maintaining your trees, which may include fortifying the trunk and chopping loose branches off. If you don’t feel comfortable tackling this yourself, get in touch with Mid Florida Tree Care. They provide Tree Service Winter Garden FL, including personalized storm protection.
Storm Shutter Installation
Protecting your windows is essential during heavy storms. If the wind manages to crack a window, it will tear through your home causing more damage. Further, pressure caused by the wind can smash your roof off from the inside. If your roof gets whipped away, the chances are that your walls will collapse. On average, storm shutters cost around $50 per square foot, meaning the price will be dependent on the project size.
Clear Loose Items Outside
If it’s not bolted down, clear it away. Anything from footballs to garden tools can be picked up by high winds and thrown into your home. As well as damaging your property, loose items can cause series injuries.
Invest In Backup Power
On the topic of loose items, loose branches and other objects often damage electrical lines during storms. As well as this, lighting can strike transformers, causing mass outages. To avoid damage from electrical surges, have a protective device installed. Further, if you live in a location that suffers extreme weather, invest in a backup generator.
Flood-Proofing
We’ve spoken a lot about wind-related damage, but heavy rainfall also has the potential to destroy your home. In some cases, especially if you live in a flood-prone location, your insurance company won’t cover damage costs. Therefore, you will need to take measures to protect your home, including:
- Wet flood-proofing. This involves modifying parts of your home including under the house, crawlspaces, and basements to allow water to flow easily.
- Dry flood-proofing. You need to make your foundation watertight, which can be achieved using concrete.
Regular Weakness Checks
Between storms and hurricanes, it’s important to regularly check your home for signs of weakness. In particular, we recommend focusing on your doors, windows, garage, and roof. Paying for light repair jobs will be much cheaper than covering the cost of extensive storm damage.
Protecting your home from storm damage is a part of life in Florida. Avoid being caught out and having your home destroyed by following the preventative measures outlined above. Spending money now on flood protection will be cheaper than rebuilding your entire home.
