When it comes to your family home, there is nothing worse than falling foul to a disaster. Admittedly, household disasters do tend to be rare, but once every so often something is likely to go wrong at home, leaving your home in a bit of a mess. Of course, you can put safeguards in place when it comes to disasters by insuring your home against all manner of problems, to make sure that should disaster strike you are covered financially. However, just because your home is insured, that doesn’t mean that you are covered against every eventuality or that repairing your home from a disaster would be a quick job. That’s why it’s worth knowing when the most common household disasters occur so that you can be prepared for them, or at least know what to look out for.
Warm weather disasters
Fires: Because of how dry the weather often is, in the warmer summer months fires are more likely. This includes both wildfires, if you live in an areas that is prone to them, and household fires. Although often there’s little that you can do to prevent a fire, what you can do is ensure that your home is fitted with fully functioning smoke alarms that will warn you and your family if there is a fire in or near your house. Calling the fire service early can be the difference between your home burning to the ground and some minor damage, so the sooner you are alerted to a fire, the better.
Plumbing problems: In the warmer months we tend to use more water, which means that our homes are more prone to plumbing problems. If you live near a beach or you and your family spend a lot of time outdoors, then your home’s plumbing could end up blocked with sand or dirt, as every time you come in from the beach or some other outdoor activity, you most probably take a shower. To prevent plumbing problems, brushing off as much sand or dirt outside your home is a good idea. If you do notice that your plumbing is blocked, the best thing to do is call a plumber as soon as possible, to prevent the problem from getting worse.
Cold weather problems:
Burst water pipes: One of the most common cold weather problems is burst water pipes, as every winter thousands of homes will end up having pipes bursting because of the cold weather. To make burst water pipes less likely, you could contact a company like Heat-Line about the anti-freezing products they offer to prevent water pipes from freezing up in the cold winter weather. Sure, it might be an investment, but if it will prevent disaster from striking, surely it’s worth it?
Infestations: In the colder months, household infestations are twice as likely as in the summer months. This is because as the weather gets colder, rodents, insects, and other animals look for somewhere that offers them protection from the elements. If your home has any small holes in the exterior, such as in the roof, for instance, this can give insects, and animals access to your home, which they can then go on to infest. To prevent an infestation becoming serious, it’s important to call out a pest controller as soon as you can, to get the infestation under control.
The fact is that a household disaster can strike at any time, but the disasters mentioned above are more likely to occur at certain times of the year.