Four Hurricane Damage Prevention Tips for Florida Homeowners
Are you prepared for hurricane season? Do you want to minimize the damages done to your property when severe storms and hurricanes roll up the coast? As a homeowner, there are many things you will want to do to avoid having to file property claims in central Florida. When your home is damaged, it is difficult enough on your stress and emotional health. However, when you are going through the insurance claims process, this adds an entirely different element to your life. In order to minimize the losses and damage, there are a few hurricane damage prevention tips to follow.
Use Garage Door Reinforcements
Reinforce garage doors with central supports and additional structural reinforcements. Over 80% of all residential hurricane wind damage is caused from the failure of garage doors to withstand extremely high winds and flying debris. Proper reinforcement of the garage doors can save you substantial amounts of both time and money. Reinforcement can also prevent additional damage to the interior spaces of your home, which includes your valuables and belongings.
Secure Outdoor Features
Remove anything from outside of your home that could easily become airborne. This can include playsets, lawn ornaments, gardening tools, outdoor furniture, or any others objects that could easily be picked up and blown around by heavy winds. Also, you should ask your neighbors to do the same, as their objects can easily come flying into your yard and damage your materials too. Flying debris can easily break windows, doors, or even the sides of some homes. Minimizing the amount of unsecured objects outside your house will help protect you from unnecessary damage.
Invest in Fabric Panels
Strong fabric panels, more commonly known as hurricane shutters, add trampoline-like cushion to windows and doors. These panels repel flying debris without sacrificing visibility in a storm. . Panels are attached to the edges of windows and doorways with grommets, wing nuts, clips, or pins, making them easy to install. The panels are easy to put up and remove, and you can roll them up and store in a compact space during other times of the year. Most are clear, which allows for visibility.
Invest in Flood Barriers
For those who are concerned about flooding in low-land areas, you can use some basic flood barriers to minimize your risk when there is a surge of water. Sandbags are an inexpensive option, but they are heavy and it may take hundreds of bags to make a solid barrier around a home. Other types of flood barriers include powder-filled absorbent door dams, water-filled tubes, expanding bags and portable walls that can be quickly deployed in the event of a flood. The price varies from a couple hundred dollars up to tens of thousands of dollars to completely surround a home, depending on product and protection level.
These are just a few of the ways that you can prevent extensive damage to your home or property during hurricane season. In the event of extensive hurricane damage, you may need to file property claims in central Florida to get insurance money to cover repairs and replacements. Contact us if you want the help of a professional insurance adjuster today.
