It’s almost hail season in Dallas-Fort Worth, and that means you need to be on the lookout for damage to your roof, your car and everything you keep outdoors. Hail damage can be significant – and if it’s bad enough, it can cost thousands of dollars to repair.
But there are a few things you can do to prep your home for hail season. Check out these four tips from Dallas roofing pros to keep your home safe.
4 Tips From Dallas Roofing Experts to Help You Prepare for Hail Season
It’s always a good idea – especially in this area – to invest in hail-resistant roofing. Hail-resistant roofing, which you can get installed before hail season kicks off this year, is usually pretty affordable and highly resistant against extreme weather.
Pro tip: Sometimes installing hail-resistant roofing saves you money on your homeowner’s insurance. If you’re thinking about it, call your insurance company to see if they offer a discount for weather-resistant roofs.
If you don’t have hail-resistant roofing, you can still use these four tips to protect your house:
- Get a free roof inspection
- Use storm shutters
- Put away your lawn furniture
- Trim your trees
Get a Free Roof Inspection
The last thing you want is to go into hail season with an already-damaged roof. Now is the time to get a free roof inspection to determine whether there are any issues up there that could compromise your roof’s integrity during a hail storm. If there are, you can fix them now and save yourself a lot of money – and a big headache – later.
Use Storm Shutters
Your windows are the weakest part of your home – even if they’re the best-quality windows you could get. When they’re being slammed by hailstones during a storm, they can give out. That creates a safety hazard, and it opens your home up to more potential damage.
Using storm shutters are a solid barrier that protect your glass windows from direct hits. You can invest in awning shutters, accordion shutters and a number of other styles – just make sure you use them as soon as you find out it’s going to hail.
Put Away Your Lawn Furniture
Fabric table umbrellas, metal and wicker lawn furniture, and other outdoor living elements can really take a beating during a hailstorm. If you can’t stash these items away in a shed or the garage (don’t leave your car outside!), at least bring them close to the house and try to put them under some type of cover.
Trim Your Trees
If you have tree branches that could fall on your home during a storm, trim them right away. Getting rid of dangerous branches dramatically cuts the risk of something going terribly wrong. Because hail is so dense – and because it comes in at tremendous speeds – it can easily crackbranches. Even big, sturdy branches are at risk during an intense hail storm, so take a good, hard look around your house to see if there’s anything you can do to prevent a catastrophe.
Think About Hail-Resistant Roofing to Protect Your Home
According to most Dallas roofing experts (including us), one of the best things you can do to protect your home during hail season is to invest in hail-resistant roofing. Because you may not see hail damage right away – or you may not even notice it until your roof starts leaking – it’s best to provide that extra level of protection before you open yourself up to bigger problems.
