How to Protect Your House from Wind Damage
Heavy winds can come in many forms. By the time they hit the Carolinas, hurricanes have often lost some of their power, but they can still sometimes bring very destructive winds. Tornadoes can strike with the power to wipe entire towns off the map. Even straight-line winds can sometimes be forcible enough to tear down homes and other buildings.
Fortunately, there are steps that you can take to protect your home against wind damage in the Carolinas. Taking these steps will reduce or eliminate wind damage to your home.
Wind Damage Protection: Reinforce Weak Spots
When winds hit your house, they will seek out the weakest places to break through. Once inside, the wind can more easily tear the house apart from within. To protect your home, reinforce these weak points:
- Windows
- Garage doors
- Double entry doors
Storm shutters are an easy, effective way to protect your windows. They will protect them from wind damage, including damage from blowing objects.
Garage doors are large flat surfaces that are generally weak and poorly reinforced. In strong winds, they can blow in and make it easy for the wind to lift off the roof and cause other damage in the garage and home. Reinforce your garage doors to protect your home.
Double entry doors are another large potentially weak spot in the house. Evaluate the strength of your entry doors, and, if necessary, protect them with storm doors.
Wind Damage Protection: Upgrade Roofing
Your roof must stand up to the worst of all weather, including winds. Make sure your roof is up to the task.
If you have loose shingles, secure or replace them. Also consider upgrading to impact resistant shingles the next time you have to repair the roof. It’s worth it to upgrade the roof because it can protect your home from other damage during storms. It only takes a few loose shingles to create a damaging leak during heavy rain.
Another important upgrade to your roof is to make sure it’s securely attached to the rest of the house. If it’s not, consider adding roof straps to protect your roof from blowing off.
Wind Damage Protection: Clean Up the Property
Although it’s normally not a big deal to have some extra things around the yard, anything loose in the yard can become a dangerous projectile during high winds. Get rid of trash and debris, and put away any tools, bikes, or other equipment.
It’s also important to evaluate the health of trees and shrubs on your property. Check for any broken, decaying, or sick branches. Trim these, as they are more likely to break off and cause damage to your house. If you have any trees that are sick or have weak roots, get them removed before they blow down in a strong wind, causing catastrophic damage.
Wind Damage Protection: Secure Outdoor Structures
Anything outside the house has the potential to become a dangerous projectile in heavy wind. As we said above, you should put tools and equipment away. However, you also have to make sure that outdoor structures are secured well enough to avoid becoming projectiles themselves.
This includes:
- Fencing
- Playground equipment
- Arbors and gazebos
- Porches
- Sheds
- Fuel tanks
Essentially, every building outside your house needs to be properly secured or else it can become a projectile. Not sure how to secure your structures? Contact the manufacturer or your insurance company for instructions. Either one or both will tell you how to secure these structures to protect against them becoming airborne during a major windstorm or direct you to professionals who can secure them for you.
Wind Damage Protection: Nerf Your Landscaping
Many decorative surfaces in your landscaping can become dangerous projectiles in a high wind. You might not think it, but gravel or rocks can be picked up by strong winds and thrown at your house. They can easily be driven through your house’s windows. Even if you have storm shutters up, your house can be vulnerable to these objects, which the wind can throw at very high speeds. These landscaping materials can shred your siding or tear up your paint.
Replace rocks and gravel with soft mulch. Alternatively, you can plant a groundcover plant that will hold the soil in, preventing erosion by wind and water.
RestorePro Restoration Company Can Help with Wind Damage
Even if you follow all these steps, there is still a risk that your home will experience major wind damage. If your home has suffered serious wind damage, as well as additional damage from water, RestorePro can help you return your home to its pre-damage condition.
RestorePro can handle every step of the storm damage restoration process. We offer 24/7 emergency damage restoration services, so as soon as you contact us, we can be out to help. Our restoration experts can inspect the house to make sure it is safe to reenter and perform emergency board-up services to protect the house from additional damage from weather, vandals, thieves, or animals. Then we can complete all necessary repairs of roof damage, broken windows, destroyed garage doors, and more. Our restoration professionals can even repair water damage if wind damage admits rainwater.
Working with insurance companies can be a challenge, but RestorePro does it every day, and we know how to handle their bureaucracy. We can work with your insurance company directly to coordinate claims, documenting all the damage and repairs so that you will get the full amount covered by your policy, with no delays or denial because of poor documentation.
To learn how RestorePro can help you deal with wind damage, please contact us today. We serve customers throughout North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
- How to Protect Your House from Wind Damage - December 23, 2024
- Is a Musty Smell a Sign of Water Damage? - December 18, 2024
- 10 Water Damage Cleanup Mistakes to Avoid - December 17, 2024