High winds can cause serious damage to your property. Fortunately, you can protect your house from wind damage by reinforcing doors, windows, and the roof.
5 Tips on How to Protect Your House from Wind Damage
The weak points of your home are those most vulnerable to wind damage. You can reduce the possibility of wind damaging your property by:
Repairing Loose Features
Loose fences, shingles, or siding puts your home at a greater risk of being damaged by wind. Winds more easily tear off features that aren’t well-secured and blow them around, causing even more damage.
Make temporary fixes if you don’t have time to call in a professional before the storm hits. It’s best to hire someone ahead of the hurricane season to fix any compromised areas that could be further damaged by wind.
Securing the Roof
There are three main ways to reinforce a weak roof. One, you can install truss braces to keep the trusses from buckling. The second method involves mounting gable-end bracing for houses with a gable roof. Finally, you can add hurricane straps if you don’t already have them. Hurricane straps are appropriate for any rooftop and should be installed on all homes in wind-prone areas.
Examining Outdoor Items
Walk around your house and look for unsecured outdoor items like furniture and garbage bins. A strong wind may turn these into projectiles towards your home, resulting in damaged doors, windows, and walls. Anchor these objects securely to the ground or move them inside for storage. Consider removing tall trees that are close to your house and any overhanging branches.
Reinforce Doors and Windows to Protect Your Home from Wind Damage
Install storm shutters to protect the glass panes on your windows. If you don’t have shutters and a storm is coming, mount plywood to protect windows and glass doors.
Install slide locks to double-entry doors that will secure the top and bottom. Garage doors may require retrofit kits to prevent the wind from knocking them off the track.
Hire a Home Inspector to Perform a Wind Mitigation Inspection
Even after taking some precautions, you may miss vulnerabilities that only a home inspector would notice. A wind mitigation inspection is a service specifically designed to help you protect your house from wind damage. Some insurance companies reduce premiums or offer credits to homes that have undergone wind mitigation efforts.
Properly Inspected Home Inspection Services offers wind mitigation inspections in the Tampa Bay area. Contact us to request our services.
