When severe weather strikes here in Michigan having your home ready is important to avoid damages. During winter the snow and ice can be brutal to some components of your home including the roofing. There are some things you can do to protect your home and roofing in Brownstown Michigan which we’ll cover below.
Tips to Weather Proof Your Home and Roofing in Brownstown Michigan
You may think cleaning your gutters and trimming the trees around your home is not a severe task. But you’d be surprised how much it could protect your home during a storm. These eight tips could help protect your home from any type of weather drastically. Doing routine maintenance on your home may cost a shiny penny up front, but the reward in the long run is very much worth it.
Trim Trees Around Your Home
Be sure to keep all the trees trimmed around your home. Tree limbs could cause severe damage to your home rather they are large or small. Any type of limb could end up causing major damage to your roof. Typically you want to make sure limbs are at least eight feet from your roof. Make sure you get a professional out there to do this job because it could be very dangerous. Another dangerous reason low hanging branches are no good is because it could allow snakes and other critters to enter your home easily.
Proper Drainage is Important
You could install a french drain to help with water flow. This could help keep storm water away from your home. A french drain is a slightly sloped trench. Most of the time the trench is filled with gravel and has a pipe buried under it to divert the water. Most french drains typically slope 1 inch every 8 feet. This helps ensure that the water is steady moving. You can set the drain deeper into the ground if you have a real soft lawn. Typically homeowners install this type of drain right by their home or right behind the curb.
Prepare for Bad Weather
Prepare for your power to go out. Depending on how severe the storm is that impacts your home you could lose power for a few days. We all know if this happens you could end up losing all the food in your fridge and freezer. One of the best ways to prevent this from happening is to invest in a generator. It may seem like a sillu investment at first but you can quickly see it’d be worth it. Especially if you lose power on a 95 degree day. Also the amount of food you’ll save by keeping your fridge running will also pay for it within the first couple of storms usually.
There are two types of generators you can purchase; a portable one or a standby generator. To determine which one you need you need to figure out what all you need to power during an outage. If you only need to run one or two appliances then a portable one will suit your needs. If you need to power multiple appliances then you might want to invest your money in a standby generator.
Keep Your Gutters Clear
This may seem like a silly task at first but you could keep your gutters clean. If your gutters are stopped up then this could cause rain water to puddle up on your roof. If this happens then this can quickly cause severe damage to your roof. It could even go as far as destroying the foundation of your home. We all know roof and foundation damage can quickly add up. With that being said it is best to get a professional out to routinely clean your gutters. It could end up saving you from having to replace your roof or even worse, losing your home.
Check Your Smoke Detectors
Check to make sure all your smoke detectors work and fire extinguishers are full and have the locking pin intact. Most of the time the green bar is “Full” on fire extinguishers. Fire extinguishers dont technically expire but however over time they do lose pressure. If it loses pressure then the fire extinguisher wont work. It may seem silly to routinely check these, but it could end up saving your home or even your family. All smoke detectors have a “Test” button on them. It’s a good habit to check them at least once a month, after all, batteries don’t last forever. The worst time to find out that they’re dead is when it’s too late.
Make sure you get a roof contractor in Brownstown Michigan to inspect your roof annually as well to determine if there are any problems that you need to address. To get a roof inspection on your home be sure to call the experts at Downriver Roofers today at (734) 548-9919. They offer free quotes and are fully licensed and insured.