Protecting Your South Carolina Home From The Elements: A Guide

Jan 1, 2022 | Window Replacement

Protecting Your South Carolina Home From The Elements: A Guide

The weather in South Carolina is generally a humid and sub-tropical climate. That means hot summers but relatively mild winters. There’s no escaping the fact that it can get very hot in the summer, especially during July, while January is the coldest month. With plenty of rainfall throughout the year and the ever-present risk of thunderstorms, hurricanes, and even the occasional tornado, making sure that your home is ready to face the South Carolina weather challenges is vital. Luckily, there are professionals in South Carolina that can help you to protect your home from the elements, and whether it’s protection for your house windows in Charleston, SC, your doors, or your shutters, here are the best ways to ensure your home is safe from whatever Mother Nature has to throw at it.

House Windows and Doors

To protect your home from the wind and the rain, you need to make sure that you have no access points. Check your entire exterior for loose windows, cracks in the walls or window frames, all of your doors, and even your garage door. In areas like SC, where hurricanes are a concern, you must make sure that your windows and doors are completely sealed. Talking to professionals for your vinyl windows in Charleston SC means that they’ll be able to help you identify and secure your windows against even extreme winds and rain.

Insurance Essentials

One of your first steps when deciding to protect your home more securely from the elements is to check your existing home insurance policies. You need to check that you are covered from natural disasters or the most brutal of storms.

While South Carolina isn’t prone to snowstorms, the weather is always a force to be reckoned with. You might find that your current insurance policy does not cover flooding or hurricanes, so it might be that you have to buy separate coverage for these potential threats. Ensure that you have an ongoing list of your possessions, and use your phone to make a video of your belongings. Keep that evidence in the Cloud or in a safe location that is not your home.

Consider Shutters

You could invest in some specialist hurricane shutters if you live in an area that is especially prone to hurricanes. South Carolina is one of those places, and there are a variety of storm shutters available from companies experienced with Bahama shutters in Mount Pleasant and Charleston, SC.

Top Tip: It can be very easy to overlook your skylight if you’re looking at shutters to protect your windows. Shutters can be made to order and built to fit any window size or shape on your property. Not only will they make your home more durable in the face of high winds, but they also help to protect you from rain, snow, and general high winds.

Steel Doors

Your doors are going to be a vital component of your home protection against the weather. Once you have completed your installation of shutters, it’s time to start looking at your doors.

It’s highly recommended for homeowners in hurricane-prone regions to install steel entry doors. If you have double doors, sliding patio doors, or even French doors, these can be easily broken by high winds. That’s because they have little in the way of support on both of their sides.

Again, talking to professionals can improve the safety of your home, so if you want the best doors in Charleston, SC, then talk to local businesses that can advise you on the need for specialist hardware and bolting mechanisms that could be the ideal protection from even the highest winds.

The Roof of your Home

The best roof in the best condition will be able to protect your home no matter what is happening outside. That means that getting your roof right is essential. If you’re carrying out your home protection tasks yourself, then you’ll need to start with sealing your vent pipes and chimney. If you’re planning on a full roof replacement, then it can be done yourself, but you will be much safer if you get professional advice. However, what you can do is clear out any gutters that have become clogged.

Heavy storms usually come with plenty of rain, and if your pipes are blocked, they will overspill. That can mean that you get water soaking into the ground around your property, and too much of that can result in serious structural damage to your home’s foundation. Ideally, you want to prevent your pipes from freezing in the first place, which you can do by:

  • Disconnecting garden hoses (and draining them)
  • Use insulating foam covers on your outside taps.
  • Turn off your sprinkler systems.
  • Use insulation on any exposed pipes.
  • Check the pipes that feed your washing machine.

If a pipe does freeze, leave the faucet open so that the melting ice can flow freely when it thaws.

The Yard

There’s nothing quite like spending the summer in your SC yard. Unfortunately, when the wind speed starts to pick up, the things that give you the most pleasure can often become high-velocity projectiles that can damage your property.

Make sure that you keep up with your yard work. Check your trees, remove any dead or dying limbs, and then secure any of the lawn furniture you use during the summer. If securing them is not possible, then it can often be best to move them inside. If you get a hurricane warning, you should consider disconnecting and removing your television aerials as well.

The more you prepare your home for the extremes of weather, the more likely you will minimize damage. Even during the toughest storms, some simple preparation could keep you safer and potentially save you a lot of money on repairs.

Take the time to give your home a thorough examination, and use professionals with local weather changes. If you wait until you get a weather warning before considering the safety of your property, then it may be too late.

LET’S GET STARTED

Contact Muhler today to learn more about how we can make your home better with new Windows, Doors, Shutters, Storm Protection & Sunrooms.

LET’S GET STARTED

Contact Muhler today to learn more about how we can make your home better with new Windows, Doors, Shutters, Storm Protection & Sunrooms.

Let’s Get Started

Contact us today for more information about our vinyl windows, doors, shutters, sunrooms & storm protection. Free estimates.