As the temperature rises, beautiful flowers start blooming, and unfortunately, so do severe storms. Everyone knows that the change of seasons causes a lot of rain and wind that can destroy your house. Being proactive when it comes to your home inspection and fixing everything that may harm your property is crucial if you want to save your money in the future.
Inspection of your house is a perfect decision. Just a few hours of doing this can protect your property from all the natural forces that might damage it.
Below is the information regarding the home inspections that one needs to perform in order to get ready for severe weather conditions.
Exterior House Inspection
Roof and Gutters
It goes without saying that the roof is very important when it comes to protecting the home from water damages. Missing some shingles mean that your property can be destroyed by heavy rain. To check it, you can use binoculars while being far away from the house. Then you can proceed to the gutter inspection. They always contain a lot of leaves and sticks after the snow, and if they are empty, rainwater cannot damage your property anymore. Professionals like Hiner Roofing can give your roof a more detailed inspection from time to time.
Windows and Doors
Wind can get into the house through the gaps between the walls and the windows or doors. You should check the caulking and weatherstripping to be sure that there are no gaps where cold air might get inside. However, at springtime, the gap might allow rainwater to get inside the house. You can deal with this issue by applying the new layer of exterior caulking.
Landscaping and Drainage
The branches hanging above the house can damage the roof severely if there is strong wind. Therefore, you should cut the trees in order to avoid this problem. Next step should include grading of the soil to be sure that there is no place where the water might accumulate near your property. Thus, proper drainage is needed to avoid the stress on the foundation walls.
Interior Home Inspection
HVAC System
With the coming spring, your HVAC system is switched to the cooling mode and starts working intensively. That is why you should check if there are any problems in this part of the house. Firstly, replace all the air filters. Secondly, tune up the air conditioner to increase its productivity.
Plumbing
Frozen water pipes were a problem for your house during snowstorms, but the melting of snow shows you additional damages that occurred during this period of time. At first, inspect the plumbing system to find out if there are any leaks or condensation. Second thing to check is outdoor faucets since they may freeze and crack during snowing. To see if there are any problems, try turning on the water valve. If you can stop water by pressing it with a finger, it means that you will have to repair your wall by a professional plumber.
Sump Pump and Basement
Severe rainstorms can cause the flooding of the basement because the malfunctioning of the sump pump allows water gathering inside. Therefore, it is necessary to inspect its functioning and fill it with water to see if the float switch turns on the motor and if all the water drains out. Walking in the basement, you can find concrete cracks in the walls and seal them.
Get Ready for the Storm
Inspecting your home before the storm allows you to avoid the problems that it might cause. Flood, water and wind damage, and broken devices are the problems that everyone would like to avoid.
You should just walk around the house and look for some problems. Do not forget to call your contractor if there are some damages or difficult tasks. Thus, you will have nothing to worry about when it comes to the storm and will be able to enjoy your property!
