How to Prepare for Hail – Protection Measures for the Home and for the Landscape

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Summer is not only a period for outdoor fun – it is also a period when hail storms can form in a matter of minutes and devastate complete properties in another few minutes, so finding out how to prepare for hail is essential to preserve the integrity and the safety of your home. While you cannot completely hail-proof your property, there are many things you can do to make it more resistant to the damage caused by the high winds and the hail stones that come with the storms.

How to Prepare Your Home for Hail

The parts of the home that are the most sensitive to the harmful effects of hail are the windows, the doors, the roof and the gutters. To prepare the openings on your building for hail, inspect the areas surrounding the windows and the doors for any cracks or holes and reseal the areas with some caulk. Also check the openings where cables enter the building and seal them as well. You should also install protection on your doors and your windows – get some strong and thick protective blinds for your windows, install curtains inside to protect against shattered glass if the window does get broken and make sure your front door is sufficiently strong to stand up against the hail. Move any valuables away from the windows as well to avoid any damage or danger caused by broken glass.

You should also pay special attention to your roof. Pick a quiet, storm-free period and get the roof inspected by a roof repair Omaha specialist or go up and inspect it yourself to find any damaged components, such as cracked or chipped tiles, buckled or torn shingles and install new roofing cover in areas where there are tiles or shingles missing. Inspect and repair the flashing on the roof, too – if the flashing is cracked or it does not adhere perfectly, it can be easily torn off by the next storm. Check and strengthen your gutters, too – hail storms come with large amounts of water that cannot drain properly through clogged gutters and weak or loose gutters can be easily torn off by the wind, so it is essential to get any such issues fixed in time.

Preparing the Area Surrounding the Home

Your deck, your patio and your landscape also need protection from hail. Move any vehicles and outdoor furniture to a sheltered place, keep any piles of wood under a shed where the wind cannot scatter them, repair your driveway to make sure there isn’t any loose gravel or rocks that could be lifted by the wind and also prune your trees and your shrubs to remove dead branches that could be torn off during the storm.

Don’t forget about pets and other animals either – when you notice the first signs that there is a storm approaching, move them inside the home or to a solid and sheltered place where they will be safe.

This short guide about how to prepare for hail covers the most important preventive measures for hail, but every home is different, so try to identify the vulnerable points of your property and fortify them as much as you can to prevent any damage to your assets.