If you’ve lived in the South for longer than 15 minutes, you know how the weather can change without warning. From unexpected hailstorms in the spring to excessive heat and humidity in the summer, the weather can leave a lasting impact on your home — whether it be through flooding, excess moisture, or power outages. Here are six ways to safeguard your most valuable investment from the elements. 

As always, Lee Company is here to offer guidance along the way. Our home services experts can help protect your home from the weather!

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1. Clean gutters prevent water damage

We understand that remembering to clean your gutters isn’t always at the forefront of your mind, but it’s incredibly important for the overall health of your home. In general, you should clean your gutters at least twice a year. Depending on the foliage surrounding your home (we’re looking at you pine trees), you may need to clean your gutters every three months.

Pro tip: Clean your gutters every spring and fall to prevent damage to your home. If you need help, Lee Company’s home service pros will gladly lend a helping hand. 

Failing to keep your gutters clean can result in water damage, complications with freezing, and pest infiltration. Of these reasons, the most important is to prevent water damage in and around your home. Water is persistent. If it can’t make its way through the proper drainage system, it will find another way. This can result in water damage to the home’s foundation or crawl space.

2. Keep your crawl space dry with crawl space encapsulation

Many southern homes are built on a crawl space. If your crawl space isn’t encapsulated, the air you breathe can be less than desirable. An untreated crawl space is a breeding ground for microbial growth, an open door to pests, and a major flooding hazard. In short, maintaining a healthy crawl space is essential to maintaining a healthy home. 

Did you know?: About 50% of the air in your home – the air you and your friends and family breathe – flows up from your crawl space.

If your crawl space is untreated and prone to moisture, contact the pros at Lee Company. We offer crawl space encapsulation services that will keep your home safe during the rainy season.

3. Protect your electronics with a whole house surge protector

One lightning strike can destroy all of your electrical equipment — and this isn’t limited to your laptops and TVs. It also includes your appliances and even your HVAC system. It’s a costly stroke of bad luck. Fortunately, a whole house surge protector can keep all of your electrical equipment safe during a storm.

An expert electrician from Lee Company can install this affordable solution on your circuit breaker that will more than pay for itself in the event of a lightning strike hitting your home.

4. Keep the power on during a storm with a whole house generator

Unwieldy weather doesn’t have to leave you in the dark. A whole house generator will keep your family safe and keep the power on during a storm. Depending on your needs, a whole house generator can power the essentials (HVAC system or refrigerator) or power your entire home. If you’ve ever been stuck without power for days at a time, you know how amazing a home generator can be! 

Did you know?: If your home has a natural gas line, there’s no need to worry about powering your home generator. It will benefit from an endless source of energy, a nice advantage during prolonged outages.

5. Beat the heat with a solar attic fan

July and August can be punishingly hot in the South. This can cause your attic to get excessively hot and cause excess strain on your HVAC system. HVAC replacement can be costly, so the best offense is a good defense…enter the solar attic fan.

Installing a solar attic fan can make a huge difference in maintaining a comfortable living space while saving you money on monthly utility bills. Having excess heat in your attic for a prolonged period of time can cause moisture build-up, which brings the potential for wood rot and its associated issues. In short, a solar attic fan can extend the life of your roof and your HVAC system.

6. Weather strip your doors and caulk your windows

Ensuring that your doors are weather-stripped and your windows are caulked keeps out excess moisture, prevents pest infestation, and helps keep a consistent temperature in your home. If you’ve been paying attention up to this point, you know that moisture in your home can cause a whole bunch of costly (and unhealthy) problems.

If you need a hand with weather stripping and caulking, Lee Company offers handyman and home improvement services to ensure that your home is as sealed as possible. This will help regulate temperature, minimize the likelihood of infestation, and keep your home free of excess moisture.

The importance of tracking weather patterns

Thanks to technology and the widespread availability of information, you don’t need a degree in meteorology to track the weather. Pay close attention to what’s going on in your area so that you know what to expect. The National Weather Service is an excellent free resource for learning about your local weather. Once you know what is headed your way, you can take steps to prevent damage. For example, if high winds or hail are expected, you can move your family to the most interior room of your home. You can also cover exterior features, such as the hot tub or flowerbeds, with blankets to protect them from impact.

What to do when severe weather damages your home?

Unfortunately, the exterior of your home isn’t always that easy to protect. Storms can damage the roof, crack the asphalt, and tear off the siding in an instant. Any damage sustained must be fixed as soon as the skies clear to avoid further problems later on. As you might expect, this is not always budget-friendly. In the unfortunate event that your home’s exterior is damaged by severe weather, make a point to get multiple estimates and contact your insurance company to find out if you are covered.

Lee Company is here to help

Remember, it’s not what you do during bad weather that matters, it’s what you do to your home before and after that protects your assets. Start your home-protection efforts by understanding how rain, wind, hail, and heat can be a potential threat. Once you know what you are likely to face, get to work. If you aren’t comfortable doing home maintenance tasks, don’t be afraid to contact the pros at Lee Company!