How to Prepare Your Home for Spring Storms

Spring is arguably the best season of the year. Nature wakes up after the winter. As the temperature goes up, our mood gets better. We finally get to spend more time outside with our loved ones. Almost everything that the spring brings is good for us and our health. However, if we need to pick one bad side of it, the storms would be at the top of that list. During this time of the year, storms are frequent and seemingly come out of nowhere, giving us less time to prepare for them. But, don’t worry, our team at Ray The Plumber will show you how to prepare your home for spring storms. Follow the tips below, and you’ll be safe from any damage that spring storms might cause.

Build an emergency kit

Before you start protecting your home, you need to protect yourself. In these situations, your well-being comes first, so building an emergency kit is essential. Hopefully, you’ll never have to use it (and with regular spring storms, you probably won’t). However, if worse comes to worst, it’s good to have it ready. This goes especially for the areas that have frequent power outages. So, build an emergency kit from the supplies we’ll list below and keep it in an easily reachable place.

1. First Aid kit
2. Flashlight
3. Extra batteries
4. Enough canned food to last you one week
5. Water (one gallon per person for each day)
6. Battery-powered radio
7. Matches or a lighter
8. Something for entertainment like books or board games (especially if you have kids)

Clean the storm drains, gutters, and downspouts

Spring storms are usually accompanied by a large amount of rain that pours for a few hours. That usually leads to a surcharge on drains and sewers, but the storm shouldn’t cause any significant damage as long as they’re clean. However, when they’re not, flooding is not uncommon. So, if you’re wondering how to prepare your home for spring storms, you should start by inspecting and cleaning the drains around your house. Remove the debris and anything that might block the water from flowing away from your home. The same goes for gutters and downspouts. They must allow the water to flow through them steadily, avoiding its accumulation on your roof.

Trim the trees and branches that are close to your windows

Windows are the most fragile in your house’s line of defense. During the storms, they are the ones most vulnerable to outside threats. If you have any trees close to your windows, you should trim them along with their branches. This is because the heavy wind, that’s practically inevitable during spring storms, can easily throw the branches at your home. If the part of your home that’s hit by a branch turns out to be a window, you might be in big trouble. Not only will your window break, but you won’t be able to do anything else to stop the havoc that rain and wind will cause inside your house. So, better to be safe than sorry, prepare for it on time and trim these trees.

Remove valuable pieces

If you’re worried about the safety of your belongings, then removing them and placing them somewhere safe seems like the best option. It’s natural to want some of your items with a high monetary or sentimental value to be safe at all costs. These items are usually fine art pieces, but they could be anything similar. However, if you plan on moving them all by yourself, that could put these pieces at risk. Instead, the safest solution is to hire fine art movers who are trained and well-equipped to handle tasks like this. Let them remove valuable pieces from your home at least temporarily. Movers will safely transfer your belongings and put them in climate-controlled storage units, keeping them away from harm.

Inspect the windows to prepare your home for spring storms

We must mention windows once again, but that shows you how important protecting them during storms is. We have already concluded that they are prone to damage, so you should take a closer look at them. Carefully inspect them and look for any sign of trouble. If they have any gaps, you need to do something about them. These gaps usually occur on the edges, so the best thing to do would be to seal them with caulk. However, if they seem to be in a really bad condition overall, replacing them wouldn’t be the worst idea.

Check the sump pump

Sump pumps are essential parts of every home, but one can easily forget they exist. Still, they are here to keep you safe from water damage. To be precise, they remove the excess water away from your house. However, their efficiency is not everlasting, so you need to check them occasionally. First of all, clean your sump pump from any debris you find, and then test it to see if it works properly. The best way to do that is to pour some water into the pit. If the water is being pumped out, you’re good to go. However, if it doesn’t, or you notice any other damages, it would be better to repair your sump pump. Otherwise, any storm might cause you a lot of issues.

Conclusion

These were some of the best tips on how to prepare your home for spring storms. In most cases, these storms won’t cause any harm, but playing it safe is the best solution. We naturally hope that the worst-case scenario will never occur. However, the wise thing to do is prepare for it anyway. If your windows are in good condition and the storm drain system around the house is cleaned, everything should be fine. Still, keep the emergency kit just in case. We wish you the best of luck and stay safe during the upcoming storms!