Hurricane Season - 10 Tips to Prepare Your Home

Hurricane Season, (June 1 – November 30) and is a great time to check up on the needs of your home, to prepare for hurricane, and rainy season. Your home needs maintenance and care. Your home is often unintentionally neglected, due to improper or lack of simple maintenance and repairs. Regular maintenance can save or avoid much larger damages and costs.

Hurricane and seasonal storms bring one of the most devastating natural events to your doorstep, heavy rains, and winds. In south Florida, we are both fortunate to be surrounded by water to enjoy it benefits, and temperature calming effects. Water is a very powerful destructive element. We are also fortunate to enjoy the southeast prevailing winds, but wind, like water, has an unfortunate destructive capability. A hurricane combines these two forces: wind, and water, into a much stronger force working together.

Below are 10 Tips to Prepare Your Home for Hurricane Season. These tips are a good practice in maintaining your home for lasting enjoyment and protecting your largest physical asset.

1. Clean Your Gutters

Make sure your gutters are free of debris, clean regularly.
- Leaves, asphalt shingle aggregates, tree limbs, etc., can accumulate over a time and can clog, or damage the gutter.
Confirm the gutters are sloping in the direction of the downspout.
- If the water flows over the gutter tops in certain areas only, review the gutter and make sure it is not bent or damaged.
- If the gutter picks up too much water, it might be necessary to add an addition downspout(s) to avoid overspill. Overspill is normal in a heavy rainstorm or hurricane situation but should not occur in a regular rain.
Confirm the installation of gutter end caps when gutter spills onto a lower roof.
- If a gutter endcap is to be left off, confirm the water leaving the gutter is running in a downward direction on the roof.
- Gutter run-off up on a lower roof (opposite direction of the water flow), can cause damage over time, particularly at roof intersections and under the overhangs.
- If gutter is to drain onto lower roof, utilize a short downspout that drops into lower gutter instead.
Confirm gutters empty into downspouts holes
- Check gutter downspout openings are clean and free of debris.
- Check gutter to confirm openings into downspouts were installed.
  - The downspout attachment to the gutter requires the gutter to be cut or punched with a tool to create an opening into the downspout. When trouble shooting why gutters are overflowing or storing water, check this location to confirm.
Confirm gutter outside edge is lower than house side edge.
- If installed incorrectly water will overflow to house side and onto fascia instead of into yard.
Check gutter hangers and confirm they are installed regularly within gutter.
- General rule of thumb, gutter hangers should be spaced a maximum of three feet apart along the entire length.
Check downspouts wall mount brackets, straps, stays.
- Confirm connections are secure and not deteriorated or damaged.
Confirm downspouts empty in a drainage system or away from foundation.
- Gutter systems can become ineffective and possible cause more damage than not installing if the downspout outlet is not properly draining away from house.

Gutters are important in the removal of water away from the building foundation and structure. Correct installation and regular maintenance are critical for their proper functioning and longevity.

Consult with local gutter company if repairs or installation are required.
For additional information watch for our upcoming post, Gutter types and tips.

2. Seal Exterior Windows and Doors

Check the caulking around the exterior window and door frames.
- Where frames meet the house, re-caulk regularly to make sure there is a good seal from the frame to the exterior wall surface or trim.
Check the screws that hold the window in-place. (An often-overlooked area)
- These screws penetrate through the window / door frame into the wall opening with attachment to the buck.
- These holes are prone to leak over time due to weathering, and caulking materials that shrink or dry out. When this occurs water can easily penetrate directly into the cavity of the wall unnoticed until significant damage is caused or noticed on the interior.
Check the gaskets, gaskets are the seals that prevent water and air movement through the fixed frames and the operable parts.
- These will also deteriorate over time, get crushed, get caught, or sometimes are not full length when installed.
- Check with manufacturer or installation company for purchasing the correct seals and gaskets.

Some interior signs of potential water leaks at exterior window and door openings are base molding’s that are pulling away from wall, paint peeling on wall, or stains under or near these openings.

These openings in the building envelope are one of the main areas that can let water in during a regular rain. During a hurricane, strong winds, negative and positive pressures, can push a lot of water into even smaller openings and higher up on these frames and surrounding walls.

3. Inspect your Roof

Review roof for missing, damaged, or deteriorated tile, shingles, metals, wood, and replace.
Check roof penetrations.
- These penetrations are typically for sanitary stacks, dryer vents, kitchen / BBQ hoods, fireplaces, and overhead service mast. These openings can loosen over time or potentially be damaged by flying debris in regular rain storms.
- Regular review and waterproofing are suggested.
Check the age of your roof and its components.
- Your roof like all the other parts of your home have a life expectancy. In south Florida, these times are reduced due to weather, heat, and humidity, and sun.

Your roof is one of the most important parts of your home for daily weather protection if it is worn out and leaking it will not protect the contents under it and will cause additional damage to other components. If your roof is nearing its effective usefulness, consider replacement prior to rainy or hurricane season.

4. Seal Exterior Holes, Cracks, and Voids

Seal exterior wall penetrations
- Review the exterior of walls of your home and look for penetrations such as cable, telephone, hose bib, electrical outlets, conduits, air conditioning piping, etc.
- Anything that punctures the exterior wall surface and enters the home is a location where water can also enter, if not properly sealed.
  - Additionally, if the hole is large enough critters can also enter such as ants, lizards, bugs, and in some cases rats and other nuisance rodents.
- Seal exterior penetrations with a flexible, waterproof, paintable caulk, or other waterproofing product.
- Larger openings, penetrations should be reviewed for proper repair application, review sealing directions for size limitations.
Seal interior side of exterior wall penetrations
- Patch and seal up both exterior and interior sides of these penetrations.

5. Check your Sewer and Septic System

Review your sanitary drainage system
- Septic tank should be inspected every 2-3 years.
- Septic tank pump out, varies on use, age of system, size of system, occupants in residence, installed elevations, piping slopes, and other environmental / site conditions.
Septic tanks and drain fields can become useless when the water table rises higher than the tank and drain field. During heavy rains and after a rainy storm the ground can become saturated and get very soft.
Emptying a septic tank during a flooding situation could cause the tank to float up and /or cause damage to the sanitary lines, drain fields, and tank.
Consult with septic tank service company to establish frequency based on tank and drain field size, functioning, and use.

6. Check your Electrical System

Review all exterior outlets verifying the installation of weatherproof covering, and its condition, and replace if missing or damaged.
Remove any non-essential electrical cords plugged into these outlets particularly on the flip type cover as these will leave the outlet exposed.
- Where possible change covers to seal-proof bubble type cover.
Know where and how to operate your main power disconnects and breakers.
Be ready to turn your power off if you see flooding, downed power lines, or you decide to leave your home prior to the storm.

7. Check Your Shutters

If you have impact resistant windows you can skip this item unless you have both impact glass and shutters installed on your home.

Removable Shutter Panels
- Confirm there are panels for all openings, unless otherwise protected.
  - Many times, shutter panels are stored outside or other areas where they might go missing. Check to make sure you have coverings for all openings.
- Confirm the shutters are easily accessible.
  - Often these are placed in locations that are not easily accessible, get them out and ready for the season and place them in a readily accessible location.
- Confirm fasteners.
  - Fasteners should be reviewed to confirm they meet the manufacturer’s specifications and NOA Notice of Acceptance also known as product approvals for proper performance.
- Confirm the attachment locations on the walls are not worn out or stripped.
Accordion, Roll-ups, Bahama and Colonial shutters:
- Clean out tracks
- Check operation of slides, glides, chains, hinges, and lubricate.
- Replace non-operational parts, where needed.

Many older homes don’t have hurricane resistant impact windows and doors installed on them unless the house was renovated, and they were added.
After Hurricane Andrew’s devastation in 1992, the Florida Building Code was revised in 2001 to require all windows and doors be protected if; the building is within one mile of the coast, and in all areas of south Florida (including Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties). The openings can be protected with either impact resistant window and doors or impact coverings such as approved hurricane shutters or panels.
See prior post, Hurricane Shutter Tracks – Water Intrusion

8. Check Exterior Paint

Is your exterior house paint old? Is it peeling?
Standard Stucco is permeable and is not waterproof. Painted stucco however is much more water resistant than stucco alone. Exterior paint can last for many years but the normal exterior paint life span for south Florida is about 5-6 years compared to other parts of the US where it can last upwards of 20 years.
Paint fills hairline cracks larger cracks will need to be patch or caulked.
Painting insulates and protects the stucco by deflecting damaging UV rays, like sunscreen on your body.

9. Check Screen Enclosure

Check all the fasteners for deterioration and replace as needed.
Make sure all the anchoring cables are tight.
Check bolts and fasteners to confirm none are missing or damaged, replace.
- Check attachments are tightened.
Check for corrosion, replace.
Check to make sure all screens are installed or removed. Screen enclosures work as a unit and missing screens can result in damage.

Many recommend removing all screening from chair rail or about 3’-0” up, but this is costly to do every year. An alternative is to have a screen spline (holds the screen onto the enclosure) that its design releases at a lower wind speed. This can assist in avoiding damage or failure of the enclosure in a strong wind event such as a hurricane. Consult with local screen installation company for options.

10. Check your Site Drainage and Grading Systems

Review the locations that collect, distribute, and store water runoff
Check ground Inlet boxes and drains to confirm they are not clogged with debris, if needed remove lids and clean out. For larger drainage systems that have heavy metal drainage grates or manhole covers, call a professional to service.
Check your grading to confirm that runoff water is draining away from your home.

Many times, with older homes, and with multiple owners, the site grading was modified. Landscaping, driveways, walkways, etc., installation can inadvertently change water runoff directions. This redirection can create ponding conditions and negative water flow (in the direction of the home).

Remember these Hurricane Season – 10 tips to Prepare Your Home are recommended as part of your yearly home maintenance program schedule to make sure you are protecting yourself, your family, and your investment.

Our homes are only as good as they are built and maintained and often the latter is overlooked due to our busy schedules or lack o understanding what is needed. Please let us know if this article was helpful and if you are interested in other discussions, by replying to contact us and we will do our best to get a topic out on your question.

Cianci Construction wishes you the best in hurricane season and all year long.