The Atlantic Hurricane Season begins in June of each year and ends November 30th. An essential part of your hurricane preparedness is making sure your home and garden have been assessed and that you have adequate knowldege on things to do for your home if a storm were to hit. In this article, we have created a checklist of the main areas of your home that require regular maintenance checks during the hurricane season.

See more at the end of the article on getting in touch, to schedule a visit with 5 Star.

Roof Inspection:

Roof insprections are vital during this season. The inspection involves assessing the roof for any tiles that are loose or not properly secured and/or any damaged shingles.

Fixing any current problem areas in the roof can help avoid water leakage during heavy rainfall.

Windows and Doors:

This involves evaluating the current state and durability of windows and doors, completing any repairs needed and additional reinforcing if required.

In addition to these routine checks, we also recommend you install hurricane shutters or have plywood and materials to board your windows up if needed.

Gutters and Drainage:

Even isolated thunderstorms can cause some leaves or small debris from trees to fall into gutters and cover drainage pipes.

Regular cleaning and clearing out of gutters, drainage systems and downspouts are important so that if a storm or hurricane were to come, the gutters and drains are fully cleared enabling proper water flow to be maintained as much as possible.

Secure Outdoor Items:

Storm force winds can be very powerful leading outdoor furniture and other objects being swept away. Proper fastening and tying down of outdoor/backyard furniture is vital.

For smaller and lighter items that can be easily moved, these can be placed inside, in a storage unit or a shed. Therefore leaving additional room in these spaces is important to ensure outdoor furniture can be easily placed inside in an event of a storm.

Tree and Shrub Trimming:

Storm force winds can also cause leaves, branches and small shrubs to be swept away, posing a risk nearby house and car windows and more. Regular landscaping and lawncare, including pruning trees and shrubs especially those with overhanging branches, can lessen the risk of these flying through the air when powerful winds come.

Garage Doors:

Similar to the point above, if you have any concerns/issues about your garage door, scheduling an assessment to look at its durability is important (before the hurricane season begins if possible).

Sandbags are also things to ensure that you pick up when prepping for a storm as it acts as another meaure to help prevent water from getting under the garage door.

Get in touch

We hope this article has given you a better feel of the key areas of your home and garden you should be considering when doing home preparation for hurricane season. At 5 Star, we have a team of trained professionals that can assist you with this preparation in a range of areas including:

• Gardening & Grounds Keeping
• Roof Inspections
• Renovations
• Urgent help (including helping with leaks & flooding and clearing debris)

For more information, get in touch here.