Storms can be unpredictable, leaving behind a trail of destruction. When your home faces storm damage, it’s crucial to act swiftly to minimize the impact and restore your property. At Warren Thompson & Son Roofing & Siding, we understand the challenges that come with storm damage and offer professional services to help you get your life back to normal.
In this blog, we’ll guide you through the essential steps to take after experiencing storm damage.
Preparing the Inside of Your Home For a Storm
A storm can cause severe winds that strike without notice. Severe winds threaten property, utilities and lives due to downed power lines, flying debris and other factors. You can’t prevent the storm from happening, but you can take simple, low-cost actions before, during and after the storm to keep your home and future safe.
Familiarize Yourself With Your Insurance Policy
Before a storm strikes, review your homeowner’s or mobile home insurance policy. Understanding your coverage can simplify the process of filing a claim in the future and help you get back on your feet by getting the necessary repairs done to your home in the immediate aftermath of the storm.
Write Down All Your Belongings in Your Home
Create a list of your belongings, including photographs of valuable items. This will simplify and speed up the insurance claim process. Some homeowners walk through their homes with a video camera, videotaping their belongings as a reference.
Prepare For a Power Outage
When a storm strikes and there is a power loss, this could potentially damage your appliances. To prevent power surge damage when the power returns, unplug all appliances until the storm has passed and power has been restored. Additionally, use surge protectors to help safeguard your electronics from lightning strikes.
Designate a Safe Room
The billing codes in New Jersey are known for their strictness. That said, even a home built perfectly to code may not withstand tornadoes and thunderstorms with severe winds. Designate a safe room or space where you and your family can find shelter from the storm. If your safe room is in your basement, design it to prevent flooding. In some cases, having a battery-powered sump pump can help.
Use Storm Shutters To Protect Glass Doors and Windows
Storm shutters prevent windows from shattering if there is debris picked up by high winds. You may want to look into getting a shatter-resistant film or high-impact glass installed to minimize the chance of breakage. In addition to protecting windows, reinforce doors, especially garage doors, against a storm’s pressure with professional help.
Securing the Area After a Storm
Whenever a storm involves water, homeowners need to be on high alert. Storms bombard your roof and siding with tons of rain and can also overwhelm your sewer system. This can lead to more water pouring into the neighborhood.
Downed power lines pose severe risks, creating a handful of potential dangers. The best thing to do is call a professional for roof inspections services after the storm has passed. If there is standing water or flooding, understand that there could be a real risk of electrocution. The best thing is not to wade into floodwaters, even floodwaters in your basement, because water conducts electricity.
Be careful of electrical circuits and power lines in and around your home. To ensure safety turn power off until a professional is able to conduct an inspection. Look for things, like broken glass or dangerous objects, such as knives or nails, that may have fallen on the floor or shaken loose as a result of the storm. Beware of damage to the floor itself. Before you start moving too many things around, ensure there is no way for you to be injured in your home.
Document Everything Before Moving Anything
It can be tempting to want to organize your home and start getting things back to normal. However, you first need to document every place the storm affected your home. This includes obvious things, like clear water damage and broken windows. When you call your insurance company, you should have an exhaustive list of everything that is damaged, whether it’s a decoration in your home or part of the home structure.
Some of the things you want to document are cracks in the exterior walls, siding that has been torn off or areas that have been damaged by water. Check your doors and windows for cracks or doors that have been ripped off the frames.
Call for a roof inspection of your shingles, gutters and tiles on your roof. These may have been damaged or displaced by the storm. If the storm has ripped off a chunk of your roof or there is a hole in your roof, that is a roofing emergency and is something that you want professional roofers to address as quickly as possible.
Document heat and electrical damage. This includes any discoloration or warping caused by exposure to transformers or compromised gas lines.
You want to check all your outlets and fixtures to ensure water has not affected them. If so, document it. You will also want to document broken appliances, whether it’s a toaster or something big, like a washer. It could be a simple scratch, or it could mean that your appliances are not operational.
After heavy rain and flooding, water will try and find its way back into the ground. It may do this by flooding your basement or crawl spaces. Check your basements and crawl spaces for flooding. Prolonged exposure to sitting water can damage the foundation of the home, so you need to have that water removed fast.
Work With Your Insurance Company and a Trusted Contractor
A good insurance policy can save your home and financial future. Your insurer can verify damage claims and work with you to obtain financial compensation. Persistence is key in settling insurance claims after a storm. Don’t limit claims to physical damage to the home, but also consider other expenses, such as spending the night in another home or hotel.
Once you’ve filed the insurance claim, it is best to work with a contractor experienced in handling storm damage. Damage to the roof and siding of the home is of paramount concern, as these structures are key to keeping your home stable and safe. Work with someone you can trust, who communicates well with you and who can help mitigate some of the stress you will likely feel as you go through the cleanup process in the aftermath of the storm.
Work With Your Roof’s Best Friend Since 1973
At Warren Thompson & Son Roofing & Siding, we have offered professional roofing services in New Jersey and Pennsylvania since 1973. We aim to provide our clients with the highest-quality services with a team that is composed of passionate individuals dedicated to providing long-term solutions.
Our services include a range of roofing services, such as, roofing repair and replacement. We offer storm damage repair and work on commercial and residential roofing. We install siding, gutters and Roof MAXX. Contact Warren Thompson & Son Roofing & Siding today to work with skilled craftsmen trained to install roofs backed by a company that uses high-quality materials and offers fair pricing.