Is Your Home Ready if Disaster Strikes?
Not being prepared when disaster strikes your home is like going on a road trip with a near-empty gas tank, dirty oil, and low fluid levels and tire pressure. It’s a recipe for disaster and costly repairs.
Just as it’s important to keep your car maintained regularly and especially for a road trip, it’s essential to get your home ready in the event of a disaster or emergency. Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Very timely words as September is National Preparedness Month – developed to promote family and community disaster planning now and throughout the year. It is also hurricane season – a time that can wreak havoc for homeowners in coastal states.
While a communication plan, a supply kit, and insurance coverage are key planning elements, so is making sure your home is ready. Here are some hurricane, earthquake, and other disaster preparedness tips that can help you avoid costly problems and repairs.
If you have a French drain system in your crawl space or basement, make sure that it and the sump pump are working properly and that the exit line is clear.
Install a Relative Humidity (RH) monitor for your crawl space and/or basement. If you already have one, verify it is in good working condition.
Be sure your crawl space door is operational and sealed correctly to prevent leaking and damage.
Keep your basement windows and/or crawl space vents clean and examine them for cracking and wood rot.
Look for signs of leaks or standing water in your basement or crawl space.
Inspect the vertical supports – such as porches and decks – around the exterior of your home.
Clean your gutters and downspouts, and make sure they are fastened securely.
Earthquakes and even tremors can be especially problematic for your home’s structure and foundation. It’s good to check for any new cracks in your foundation or on the walls inside your home. Here’s a great DIY tip for monitoring settling or foundation cracks for movement. Take two pieces of blue painters tape about six inches long and place them on either side of the crack. Then use a ruler and mark a straight line across both pieces of tape. Check the tape each day and see if the lines have moved. If you notice they are no longer even, that’s a sign that your foundation or floor system has moved, and you'll need to get it checked out immediately.
For most of us, our homes represent everything we have worked for our entire lives. They are a reflection of our very identity and everything dear to us. Yet the truth is, there is nothing more valuable or important than our family's safety and well-being and the people who live there. Spend some time making sure everyone is prepared in case of a disaster because, as our friend, Ben Franklin, also famously said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”