HOME DISASTER PREVENTION – TIPS TO HELP PROTECT YOUR HOME

7/30/2019 (Permalink)

When you are leaving for vacation, the last thing you want to have to worry about is something happening to your home. While you can’t always prevent disasters from happening, you can do some things to help protect your home while you are gone. Here are some tips from professionals:

ASK SOMEONE TO STOP BY

If you have family around or a neighbor you trust, have them check on the house while you are away. Just having someone check on your house every couple of days could help prevent some of the disasters that could happen in your home.

CLEAN UP

Make sure that your refrigerator isn’t left full of food that could spoil while you’re gone or you may end up with a moldy fridge that smells awful. Make sure all your trash cans are empty as well.

Clear your gutters and storm drains. If debris blocks the rain from flowing, it can accumulate and seep into your basement or ground floor

SHUT OFF WATER MAINS OR SUPPLY LINES

If you don’t have a sprinkler system that needs to be running while you are gone, consider shutiing off the water main before you go on vacation. This may be a bit extreme but many homeowners have come home from vacation to find their property flooded, and thousands of dollars of water damage.

If you do have sprinklers that need to be run, consider turning off the supply lines to toilets, sinks, and appliances.

PROTECT AGAINST DROPPING TEMPS WITHOUT THE HUGE ELECTRIC BILL

If you go on vacation in the winter, you don’t want your pipes to freeze and burst. On the same hand you don’t want a huge electric bill. Think about getting a programmable thermostat and set it to 4 or 5 degrees below/above your normal setting (should not be below 55 in the winter). If you want to be really savvy, get a smart thermostat. Then you can check on and adjust the temperature of your home from anywhere.

GET AN ALARM SYSTEM

Having an alarm system can help you if someone breaks into your home, but if you get a good one with environmental sensors it can help you with other things as well. The sensors can detect moisture changes in the air, and in some cases even sync up with your CO2, and smoke detectors to alert emergency services if anything goes wrong.

Your vacation should be spent having fun and relaxing, not worrying about your home and what condition it will be in when you return. Take the time to prepare before you leave, and have someone check on it to help prevent a lot of major disasters.