In 2020, there were more than 4,600 hail storms that took place all throughout the U.S. They caused over $3 billion worth of property damage, mostly to cars and homes.
Protecting your car during a hail storm shouldn’t be too difficult to do. You can park it in a garage to prevent it from sustaining hail damage.
But it’s not always as easy to protect your home when severe weather comes through your area. It’s why you need to make sure you have homeowner insurance just in case a sudden storm sweeps through and causes extensive property damage.
It’s also why you should learn about some of the things that you can do to prepare your home for a hail storm. It could potentially help you avoid sustaining a whole lot of damage to your home.
Check out several things you should do to get your home ready for a hail storm below.
Make Sure You Have a Strong Roof Over Your Head
You’re obviously not going to be able to run outside and throw a new roof on your house in half an hour when you hear that a hail storm is on its way to your area. But you can make it a point to keep your roof strong at all times just in case a hail storm ever hits.
You should strive to inspect your roof on a regular basis and look for any signs of trouble. If you happen to spot previous hail damage to your roof, you’ll want to arrange to get it fixed right away so that your roof remains strong.
You should also aim to replace your roof when the time comes. The last thing that you want to do is let an old roof linger and put the rest of your house into jeopardy during a hail storm.
Keep the Trees on Your Property Trimmed
Do you have a bunch of trees growing on your property right now? If you do, trimming them in advance of a hail storm is going to be of the utmost importance.
This is, again, not something that you’re going to be able to do on a whim. It’ll typically take an entire afternoon to trim your trees in the right way.
So you should make it your mission to keep your trees trimmed throughout the year to prevent them from damaging your home during a hail storm. Severe weather will often cause tree branches to crack and fall to the ground, and they could leave your yard and your house a mess if you’re not careful.
With all of this in mind, you shouldn’t allow your trees to grow out of control. You’re going to be asking for trouble during the next hail storm if you do.
Clean Out Your Gutters and Drainpipes
If a hail storm is particularly bad, it’s going to fill your home’s gutters up with hail in a hurry. And while this won’t be a major issue if your gutters are clear, it’s going to present a problem if they’re filled with leaves, sticks, etc.
You should climb up on a ladder every so often to clean out your gutters so that hail can work its way through them. You should also clean out the drainpipes that are attached to your gutters.
By doing this, you’ll stop hail from building up in your gutters and possibly causing issues. It’s not going to have anywhere to go if you don’t have clean gutters and drainpipes.
Put Outdoor Furniture Away When a Storm Is Coming
Is your backyard filled with all kinds of outdoor furniture? You should make every effort to put it all away when you know that a hail storm is in the forecast.
The heavy winds that often accompany bad hail storms might blow your outdoor furniture all over the place if you don’t do anything with it. And the hail itself might cause damage to your furniture if it’s big enough.
Even if you simply stack all your outdoor furniture together in one place and try to tie it down, it’ll be better than just leaving it out in the open. It’ll stop your furniture from getting damaged or from blowing around and doing damage to other things.
Close Your Window Treatments Right Before a Hail Storm Starts
If a hail storm gets to be bad enough, it’s not all that uncommon for hail to shatter windows. And if this happens, it’s going to send sharp pieces of glass shooting all over the place in your home.
You can steer clear of having this happen to you by closing up your blinds, shades, or shutters before the start of a hail storm. They’ll stop glass in its tracks in the event that hail breaks your windows.
Fortunately, most modern-day windows are built to stand up to almost anything, including hail. But it’s better to be safe than sorry in this kind of situation. You should close your window treatments up tight and stay away from your windows throughout the duration of a hail storm.
Protect Your Home From a Hail Storm by Following These Steps
There’s no way to protect every single aspect of your home during a hail storm. There will be certain parts of your house that will be exposed to the elements when a hail storm blows through.
But as you’ve seen here, there are several simple steps you can take to reduce the chances of a hail storm doing any major damage. They’ll protect both you and your home and help you ride out a hail storm without a care in the world.
Would you like to discover some of the other things you can do to protect your house from severe weather? Get more tips and tricks by reading through the rest of the articles found on our blog.
