Common Household Disasters and How to Avoid Them | Great Canadian Roofing & Siding

When you own your own home, you can enjoy privacy, independence, and pride because you have an investment in your future. However, it also means you are solely responsible for any damage that happens to your property. Regular maintenance is key to avoiding disasters down the road.

While many people remember to maintain the inside of their homes and keep their yards trim, they forget to maintain other parts of their house. Don’t wait until something goes wrong! Prevent common household disasters with these easy tips:

Do regular roof maintenance.

Your roof is most likely to be damaged after heavy winds, rain, or snow. After a storm passes, take a few minutes to do a visual check of your roof for missing shingles or other damage. You should also go up on the roof at least once a year to clean off debris and do a closer spot check.

Without regular maintenance, you can easily develop a leak. The extra moisture can lead to mold, water damage, and weakened structural beams. If you do detect a leak, get it taken care of early on by a roofing professional.

Clean your gutters.

Give your gutters a good spring cleaning at least once yearly. Remove all leaves and debris from gutters and make sure downspouts are draining properly away from your home. Blockages in your eavestroughing can lead to water overflow in siding and windows, and flooding in your basement. Avoid water damage with proper gutter maintenance.

Beef up your security.

One of the scariest disasters to strike homeowners is a break-in. When strangers enter your home without permission and steal your possessions, you can be left feeling powerless. Prevent this disaster by installing and maintaining sturdy windows and doors.

Solid wood or vinyl doors and insulated windows are harder to break into than their older, flimsier counterparts. You should also invest in strong locks for every entrance to your home.

Change your air filters.

There’s almost nothing worse than waking up to a freezing house in the middle of winter or sweating like crazy in the middle of summer. While sometimes your heater or air conditioning fall into disrepair because of age, you can usually avoid expensive repairs by regular maintenance.

The best way to improve the efficiency of the system you already have is to regularly change your air filters. If you don’t, the dust and grime that collects in your filters can cause your furnace or A/C unit to shut off before they adjust the temperature of your whole house. Filters also prevent your units from working too hard to keep your house at a comfortable temperature, so they don’t break down as quickly.

If you need help implementing any of these disaster-proofing tips, call Great Canadian today at 1-877-766-3797. We’d be happy to help you make your life more secure!