How To Protect Your Home From Damage

No one wants their home to get damaged, and so we hope we do everything possible to avoid it. However, life gets in the way, and sometimes we can get too busy and forget about daily chores and tasks to keep our homes at their best. But it is important that, at the very least, do the following to avoid any costly or devasting damage to your home. Here’s how to protect your home from damage.

Clean Out Your Gutters

Your gutters are going to collect all manner of debris and dirt that gets blown over by the wind from other people’s gardens and from littering that happens throughout your local area. Once this gets into your gutters, it’s unlikely to go anywhere as more and more of it piles up. It becomes heavy, and once they’re full of rubbish, if they’re ignored it can cause severe water damage to your property. Your property’s structure is very important and once that has been compromised, it can lead to thousands and thousands of pounds in repairs. And like all of these in this list, catching it before it’s too late is imperative. So no matter where your property is, whether it’s an investment property, family home or holiday home, get the gutters cleared out on a regular basis.

There are plenty of companies who can do it for you, and if you’re looking for gutter cleaning, Melbourne has plenty to choose from if you have a holiday home is there.

Do Regular Exterior Checks

While your outside, have you ever really looked carefully at the outside of your property. It’s common that many households won’t really pay attention to the outdoors but will be quite attentive if any problems happen to the interior of the property. However, the danger lies even greater on the exterior, so it’s important to do regular checks throughout the year. Particularly if you’ve had a rough few months of winter weather, cracks can form in the brickwork, and just general wearing of the exterior can lead to exposed gaps that can let all manner of things in.

So to be extra cautious, if you spot any cracks in the exterior of your walls, fill them immediately. Anything that’s bigger might require some assistance from a local builder unless you have the DIY knowledge to do it yourself. However, if it’s something you’re unsure of, it’s always best to hire some help.

Get Your Roof Looked At

Depending on the height of your home, a roof is often a place that gets forgotten about. Partly because you probably can’t see all of it from the ground, and an attic is a place you go into very rarely. A roof inspection is certainly worth doing on an annual basis. Like your property’s exterior, the roof is protecting your home from the elements, and it can very easily get damaged with a bad bout of weather. What’s worse is that if there are any holes in the roofing, birds will find a home to nest in there and who would blame them, it’s probably nice and cozy! You can give the attic a once over yourself but to avoid any accidents, it’s best not to go climbing up on that roof yourself and instead get someone who’s confident in going up a ladder to examine the roofing for you.

Replacing roofing tiles doesn’t have to be a huge expense, and it’s better to get it sorted sooner rather than later.

Have Your Boiler Serviced Annually

Imagine getting up in the early hours of the morning. You stumble out of bed, heading straight to the shower, switch it on and you’re blasted with cold water. The problem is, the water doesn’t get warmer. And if you’ve been ignoring that call out to get the boiler serviced, then it’s likely that minor problem that it had has spiraled into something worse. Boilers are not cheap, with most starting at a few thousand pounds and whatever point in your life, that expense is not going to sit well.

So whenever you get a letter or email from your boiler provider to remind you of an annual service, book it there and then. It’s good to get an engineer out so that you don’t have to experience an unpleasant morning such as the one described. It’s worth getting the boiler serviced during the summer as a lot of call outs tend to happen in the colder months when households start to use their boilers more often for heating etc. You’ll be lucky to get yourself an engineer during that time, so aim for a quieter time of the year.

Windows And Doors

The windows and doors of any property provide a barrier to keep heat within the home. Whether that’s spending an evening in the living room or relaxing in your bedroom, having the door shut keeps that warmth in. The windows do the same thing but if they’re not good quality, they’re going to leak that heat out, and you’ll end up spending a lot more on heating than you would like to. It’s worth replacing any old windows with double or triple glazing. The more glazing, the better! Check for cracks and signs of the window frame breaking away from the wall as this can cause draughts too.

A simple soft furnishing like a draught excluder is worth having at the bottom of your doors. Maybe some heavier blinds or curtains for an extra layer against the windows too. When it comes to your front door, you want something heavy duty and to give your home the best defence, it’s best to replace your front door with something that’s going to take some force to knock down.

Property damage is something no homeowner wants to deal with, especially as most of it tends to cost money. So try to remember these checks and tasks to do around your home to avoid any small problems that could turn into severe damage to your home.