Prepare your home for spring rains

Do April showers bring May flowers? April storms and downpours can wreak havoc on your home if you’re not ready. In this article, we’ll walk you step-by-step through the process of inspecting your home’s exterior in preparation for the spring rains.

Grab a notepad, a small flat blade screwdriver, and a pair of binoculars and take a walk around the outside of your house.

For starters, if you are comfortable climbing the roof, you can do your roof and gutter inspection at the same time; otherwise, walk to a place where you can see one side of the roof. Using your binoculars, scan the roof for loose or missing shingles, loose flashing around skylights and chimneys, etc. Write your observations in your notepad along with the date. Continue through the house until you have covered all the sides.

You will need your ladder to go up to the gutter level, near the downspouts, making sure the gutters are clear. You must take a hose and run it through the downspout making sure the water flows through the bottom of the downspout. If your downspouts are connected to an underground drain pipe, this may require a considerable amount of water. Continue through the house until you have inspected each downspout.

Starting at the front door, stand about 10 ‘from your home and begin walking slowly clockwise around your home looking at the frame of each window and door, and each point where different materials meet, including the ceiling and fascia. Make sure all caulk joints are completely sealed. If you have wooden window frames and you see that the paint is peeling, take your screwdriver and push the blade into the wood. If it penetrates more than 1/16 “with medium pressure, you have lost the battle. The wood has absorbed enough water and is beginning to decompose and will no longer hold the paint. The paint will bond and when the moisture comes out it will push. Your only option is to call to a coating specialist and wrap the wood in aluminum to prevent further degradation.

Make sure you stop to look out of all the windows and remove anything that might clog the drain at the bottom of the well. Make sure the screen covering the drain pipe is intact. If you find one is missing, pull on the garden hose and run plenty of water through it to make sure it’s not clogged. One sure way to tell if you are draining properly is, with the hose running into the window well drain pipe, walk down to the basement and look into the sump pump well. There you should see the water running into the well from one of the pipes leading to the well. If the water does not go into the well, it has a blockage, and sooner or later it will back off.

You’ll also want to look for a piece of land that has settled over the winter and is sloping towards the house. You will need to move away from the house to do this. If you take a ruler or a short straight board and hold it at arm’s length toward the house. Focus on the ruler first to make sure you keep it level. Now focus further on the ground than you can see under the ruler. You can easily tell which way the floor is tilting. You want a positive incline away from the house, to ensure proper drainage.

Take detailed notes of everything you see. When you do this, walk in the fall, look at your notes from the spring. This will help you see problem areas that may require more attention. Each and every house is different, so take the time to walk around your house, talk to your neighbors to see what problems they have and what remedies have worked and haven’t worked. Remember that a couple of hours and a couple of dollars spent on preventative maintenance now will save you thousands of dollars in repairs or loss of value at the time of resale.