Getting a Storm-Rated Home: How to Get Started
Among the things homeowners dread is experiencing hurricanes or other harsh weather conditions. These tropical cyclones don’t only cause fear to every family but also wreak havoc in the home. The best thing to do, whether a hurricane is approaching or not, is to storm-rate your home, but how can you achieve this? This article is here to guide you. We will explore different ways you can protect your home and even before doing that, we will shed some light on the concept of hurricane.
What Is a Hurricane?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explains hurricanes as a tropical cyclone, a rotating low-pressure weather system that produces thunderstorms with no boundaries that separate the air masses of different densities. It comes alongside high winds, debris, and flooding. So now, with a basic understanding of hurricanes, let’s dive in and understand how to storm-rate your home.
Click here to learn more about the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
How to Storm-Proof Your Home
Protecting yourself, your family, and your property is highly important. Remember, these are among your valuable assets. You need to learn how to hurricane-proof your home and always stay prepared in case extreme weather comes your way. Whether it’s using impact-resistant glass or stocking an emergency kit, you have a few ways to achieve this.
Protect your windows.
Extreme wind, debris, and flooding can affect not only your window glasses but the whole frame. Installing storm shutters or impact-resistant windows before a storm is a great investment that can save you a great deal of time and money in the long run. Check ParadiseExteriors.com for tips on installing premium impact-rated windows. It’s unnecessary to have protective window coverings all the time, but you can install tracks, fasteners, and connectors now that will allow you to activate the protection mechanism easily once you hear a storm is approaching and time is against you.
Just like garage doors, the windows are another vulnerable place in your home. In places like Florida that are prone to harsh weather conditions, the building code includes homes located within one mile of the coast to have high-impact windows. These windows are specifically created to withstand high hurricane winds. Whether you are buying a new home or just upgrading your existing one, high-impact windows should be on your top protection list.
Check your front door.
Just like how your windows can be vulnerable to weather conditions, your external doors can also get hammered by high wind and flooding. Among the great options for protecting your front door are double doors and fiberglass; they mostly come with reinforcement options. If your windows are just the usual ones, perhaps it’s time to upgrade them to storm-rated ones.
Upgrade your garage door.
The garage door is another exterior door that is also another vulnerable area to hurricanes. If you don’t have the budget to install new garage doors, it’s ok, you can use vertical and horizontal braces or hurricane clips to support and protect the door in a hurricane; this will ensure that no pressure transposes in through the door.
Reinforced garage doors, although heavy and strong, are just as good as standard garage doors. They have extra steel layers and also feature a heavy gauge track, which is different from the normal garage doors. Purchasing these resistant doors can make a great difference in determining whether you need to make minor or major repairs after a storm.
Consider your elevation.
Whether you live in a flood plain or not, as long as you may be in the path of a storm in the future, now is among the best times you should elevate any electrical connections and systems that can be damaged by water.
Seal entry points.
Entry points include roof vents, skylights, and everything in between, it’s necessary to seal them as early as possible because even the tiniest caulking can be a protective measure from water when the hurricane hits.
Clean your gutters and downspouts.
Clean your gutters and downspouts because broken or overfilled gutters result in great problems when water flow becomes heavy. It won’t have a clear path to take, and the gutters will be filled with leaves and dead branches, causing the flow to become backed up and enter your home.
Check your trees.
If you notice some dead branches or falling leaves, clean them immediately without waiting for hurricane season to cut everything down. If left unattended, they can be picked up by storm force and fly like bullets resulting in damage to both new and old homes.
Clean up the yard.
Just like how important it is to clean your trees, don’t leave anything in your yard that can become airborne to the storm. Analyze everywhere and clean all debris, old landscape tools, and dead branches before the hurricane arrives.
Look for loose roof tiles or loose shingles.
Take a tour around your home and review if there are any signs of weakness. This can include visiting your trusses and rafters. This might not be one of the cheapest options, but installing hurricane straps on various areas of your roof to strengthen it can be a great move.
Click here to learn how to identify a leaking roof in your home.
Having a solid roof can protect you against storms, and any vulnerability can lead to problems. You can check around for roof inspectors to investigate your roof and see if there is anything that needs repair.
Conclusion
Although the weather forecast will notify you when a hurricane is approaching, in some situations, the notice may come late, leaving you with no time to analyze things at home and add an extra layer of protection. That’s why homeowners are always advised to stormproof their homes as long as they are living in places vulnerable to weather conditions.
Some of the ways you can do so include protecting your windows by using high-impact windows and installing tracks, fasteners, and connectors, using double doors and fiberglass in your front door, upgrading your garage door to a storm-rated one, sealing entry points, checking, and ensuring that your roof is in a healthy condition.
