Five Ways to Prepare Your Home for Extreme Weather Conditions
Whether you’re worried about hurricanes, fires, or winter storms, a little preparation can go a long way toward making your home more resilient to extreme weather. If you take the time to plan ahead, you’ll be safer and more comfortable staying hunkered down in the event of an emergency. Here are a few home upgrades you can do yourself to keep you and your home safe.
Check drainage and grading
When rainwater or water from melting ice or snow flows, it can test the strength of water barriers on your foundation and siding. One way to give your home a chance to survive in a wet environment is to ensure proper drainage around your home.
To check drainage, take a look at the layout around your home. The ground should slope smoothly away from any structure at a rate of about one inch per foot of distance for about the first 10 feet from the foundation. To measure the slope, you can use two pegs , a stone rope and a line level . Drive one stake close to the foundation and another about 10 feet away, and tie a rope to the stakes the same distance from the ground at each end, making sure it is taut. You should mark on a stake further from the foundation where the rope is tied, and then place it level on the rope. Slide the rope up until the bubble in the level is in the center, then measure the distance you have moved it. This measurement will tell you if your slope is at least one inch downward for every foot of distance from the house.
If you have areas where ridges have developed that direct water back toward your home, you can rake the excess dirt to create a slope away from the foundation.
Improve your gutters and downpipes
Keeping your gutters and downspouts clear will help protect your roof from water damage and keep your siding dry. Checking your gutters for sagging or depressions where water can escape along the intended path, and installing gutter hangers where there are areas that require more support will improve the efficiency of your gutters and help protect your roof from moisture. Strengthening the connection between the gutter and the house will also make it more wind resistant, reducing the likelihood of the gutter separating from the roof in high winds.
You can make your downspouts more weather-resistant by adding a hanging downspout extension that can direct water away from your home. The hinge allows the extension to be moved to the side for weeding or mowing.
Eliminate Landscaping Hazards
To protect against fire damage and keep your siding clean and dry, you should trim bushes and other plants at least one foot away from your structure. Keeping your yard free of dry brush that could cause a fire will reduce the likelihood of a brush or grass fire damaging your home. Another landscaping option for fire resistance is to use hardscape, such as rocks and gravel, near your home and keep plants 10 feet or more away from your home. This will reduce the amount of fuel available in a fire and make your home less susceptible to damage.
Add storm windows
Although replacing windows can be expensive, installing storm windows can have many benefits, including making your home more resistant to high temperatures and making your windows safer during a storm with high winds. Storm windows can be installed with a screwdriver and some basic hand tools if you have a little DIY skill, and they are typically much cheaper than replacement windows, averaging between $80 and $185 per window. With this DIY upgrade, you can save on heating and cooling costs without replacing windows, make your windows safer in high winds, and add a layer of protection from objects like falling branches.
Install a backup power supply
Power outages can be a part of most extreme weather events and natural disasters, so you can increase comfort and safety in an emergency by adding backup power. While whole-house generators tend to be expensive and require professional installation, a portable power station can handle many home appliances without having to call a professional, and you can find one for around $700. The advantage of modern power plants is that they do not emit smoke, so they can be operated indoors without the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Portable power stations are also often solar compatible, allowing you to connect them to portable solar panels for charging when power is out for more than a day or two.