Preventable Emergencies for Homeowners
No one ever wants to hear that there’s an emergency at their home, especially if there are family members that could potentially be there. Safety is always a top priority for adults with children, and that needs to register all the way down the line into habits and processes that keep the house safe.
And many emergencies are entirely preventable. Consider the most common house fires, water heater leaks, loss basement flooding, and frozen pipe issues. In that list, you see many of the ways in which a little bit of maintenance can keep away the emergencies that cause some of the most anxiety in parents and homeowners.
House Fires
Though in some cases house fires occur because of genuinely tragic and accidental circumstances, it’s much more common that they happen for preventable reasons. If you don’t clean your ventilation ducts, especially from your clothes dryer, that is probably one of the easiest places for a fire to start. And it is entirely preventable. By knowing how to clean these ducts on your own, or having a professional do it, you’re keeping away the possibility that a stray spark could catch a piece of fuzzy lint on fire and start a major catastrophe.
Water Heater Leaks
Then there is the matter of widespread water heater leaks. If you don’t flush your water heater regularly, or when it seems to be struggling with the heating element getting through the sediment that may have settled, leaks are sure to follow. It will depend on the age of the tank, the size of your tank, and the quality of your water, but knowing when to do a flush could mean the difference between having a water heater for a few years or having it for 20. Plus the fact that if it starts leaking and you don’t notice, there can be a tremendous amount of damage caused by sneaky water flowing down through your plumbing and household structure.
Basement Flooding
Then we come to basement flooding. Having a sump pump in your basement means that you have some control over the level of water that seeps up into your foundation. However, one of the times that flooding is most likely to occur is when your power goes out, and your sump pump doesn’t have electricity. So, to prevent that particular issue, you need to make sure that you keep a generator on hand during electrical storms.
Frozen Pipes
And the bane of many people’s existence in the cause of all sorts of catastrophic water damage is frozen pipes. And there is a very simple way to prevent 99% of these cases. When the temperature outside starts dropping below freezing, drip the hot and cold water of your faucets very slowly for the duration of those cold temperatures. Yes, you may lose a few gallons of water down the drain, but that slow drip can mean the difference between frozen and burst pipes, and no damage at all.
