Tips for Protecting Your Home from Heavy Rain:

We all know the age old saying – “April Showers bring May Flowers”. But the April showers and rainy weather can bring with it serious home damage if you are not prepared and protected. Here are some tips to protect your home from the rainy season:

Have –

• – your chimney checked. Hire a professional the check for any cracks in the chimney that could allow for water to seep in.

• – your roof inspected. It is better to catch a leak or crack early and prevent having to make massive repairs down the road.

Install –

• – a backwater valve. If you close to a city, this could be very helpful as the purpose of this is to prevent city sewers from backing up into your basement plumbing fixtures.
• – a sump pump. A sump pumps drain water from the inside of a structure to the outside. An additional tip is to try and opt for a battery backup sump pump system. This way if there is any type of electrical power failures, your sump pump won’t fail.

Clean –

• – (or hire a professional to clean) your gutters. A very common issue in this spring rainy season is a backed up downspout and clutter-clogged gutters. This can cause damage to your roofline, soffit, or other areas of your home as the water will backup and pool around these areas.
• – and maybe replace the seals around your windows, doors and other openings. Give them a good wipe-down to make sure they are still in good condition and there are no cracks. If they aren’t, reseal them with caulk. An additional tip, make sure any wood window and door trim is painted as this can help prevent wood rot and structural damage to your home.

Even with all these tips, with constant heavy rain water might still seep into home even after you take steps to protect your home from heavy rain. If that does happen, having the right insurance protection is crucial.

• Flood insurance: A common misconception is that flood insurance is automatically added to your homeowner’s insurance policy. This is not true! Flood insurance must be purchased as a separate policy, either privately or through the National Flood Insurance Program. When buying the additional coverage, there is typically a mandatory waiting period before it will go into effect (30 days for policies purchased through NFIP). Your agent can explain your options for flood coverage through a federally funded flood carrier so if you are unsure if you are covered, reach out to agent to help clear it all up!

• Homeowners insurance: For extra peace of mind, ask your agent about adding sewer or drain backup coverage to your homeowner’s insurance policy. This is an endorsement, an add on, to your existing policy and will provide coverage if water or sewage backs up into your house through sewers or drains, or overflows from inside a sump pump or other system designed to remove water that drains from your foundation.’

At the end of the day, if you have any questions or concerns about Floor Coverage then take a moment to call your agent to make sure you home is protected for the April Showers and you will have no issues.