The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are getting colder, and those sunny afternoons you spent at a friend’s barbecue have been replaced by quiet evenings at home under a blanket.
Winter is coming to the San Joaquin Valley and it’s time to get ready for the rains.
According to the U.S. Climate Data website, Fresno gets about nine inches of rain between the months of December and March. That’s more than twice the amount of rain the city gets throughout the rest of the year.
But fear not, there are still a few things you can do to keep your house dry and safe from any water-related damage during this winter months those tasks include:
- Cleaning your gutters: Once the leaves have fallen from the trees around your house, it’s a good idea to inspect your gutters and clear out any debris that may have collected there. This debris can cause the water to back up on your roof where it could seep inside the house or pool up and bring your gutters and anything that’s attached to them hurtling toward the ground.
- Controlling the flow: It’s also a good idea to make sure the bottom part of your gutters points away from you and your neighbor’s houses. This keeps the water flowing through them from seeping into your basement. Letting this water collect in a large rain barrel is another way you can prevent this problem while enjoying a free supply of H2O.
- Sealing your sills: Finally, make sure there aren’t any cracks or gaps between your doorways and windowsills and the outer wall that surrounds them. This keeps the rainwater from entering your house or even just the inside of a wall where it can still do some damage. You might also want to make sure the windowsills themselves are designed so the water flows away from the window glass and not toward it.
People looking for a more intense home improvement project might want to consider making sure the ground slopes away from their house rather than toward it – so their basements doesn’t flood – and filling in any cracks in their sidewalks/pathways so the water doesn’t have a place to collect or a channel that could send it to your front door.
Call Mennonite Insurance today at 559-638-2327 or e-mail [email protected] to learn about ways you can protect your home and its value with a good homeowner’s insurance plan.
