Trees are one of the most popular landscaping features, and some homeowners won’t even consider buying a home without mature trees. The question is how do we minimize the damage these trees can do to our homes and cars?

Many homeowners think if their trees have been there for 20 or more years, nothing will happen. That simply isn’t true and with the varied and unusual weather patterns we’ve had the last few years, almost anything kind of tree damage is possible. Get tips to reduce your risk of tree damage like the photo to the right … READ MORE

The extreme heat that is affecting many parts of the US isn’t something we all expect or know how to plan for. In fact when you try to research the hottest cities in the US, you quickly learn there are many ways to measure hot and many of them won’t help you prepare for the next heat wave. Here are some interesting weather facts and extremes we found and you might want to explore further as they have data on things like most hail storms, thunderstorms, etc.

• On February 12, 2010, 49 of 50 states had snow on the ground – only Hawaii didn’t have snow.
• During the second half of July 2011, 132 million Americans were under a “heat alert”.

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People suffer from extreme heat when their bodies aren’t able to cool themselves adequately. The body normally cools itself by sweating but sometimes that isn’t good enough. If a person’s body temperature rises too quickly, there can be damage to the brain or other vital organs. Everyone has to pay more attention to the heat and help others, as young children and older people aren’t always able to identify when they’re too hot.

When your too hot, your body releases heat by sweating. During normal weather conditions, the sweat evaporates and you stay cool. When the humidity is high, evaporation slows down and you won’t cool off as fast. A breeze also helps you cool down but extreme heat waves have less wind. Gets tips for protecting loved ones

Do you think everything in your home is secure? What happens when you bump into something, or someone bumps into you? You react instinctively to adjust for the bump, putting a hand out to steady yourself or grabbing a plant or bookshelf that looks like it might tip over.

If you weren’t home and something shook your home, you might find that plant or bookcase on the floor when you get home. If you’ve watched any of the earthquake videos from Japan, you quickly realize with everything moving you can’t possibly be in 10 places at once.

There are many minor emergencies waiting to happen in a home. You can’t stop the earthquake, the hurricane or tornado but you can prepare for those weather emergencies that occur where you live. Get Tips on How to Prepare Your Home for Emergencies

Emergencies happen everywhere. Hurricane warnings and earthquake predictions might help but it’s best to prepare ahead for natural emergencies as shown by Japan’s preparation for earthquakes. People in the affected area had little warning but knew to flee to higher ground, so loss of life was significantly lower than the Indian Ocean tsunami several years ago.

Each region of the world has known risks. On the west coast of the US there are earthquakes and fires, while the southeast has hurricanes. Tornado valley stretches from northern Texas to South Dakota and the northern half of the country and Canada deals with severe storms during the winter.

This article provides an overview of things you can do to prepare your home and family for emergencies as the chart here, from EarthquakeCountry.info, shows, 4 of the 7 steps to earthquake resilience should be done before an earthquake strikes. READ MORE

As winter approaches, you need to shutoff exterior faucets to avoid problems if/when the temperature drops below freezing. Typically you’ll have 1 or more outside faucets for watering the lawn, washing the car, etc. Each exterior faucet should have a shutoff valve inside the house where you can turn off the source of water to the outside faucet.

Sometimes a homeowner will close the shutoff valve and forget to drain the pipe from the shutoff valve to the faucet, leaving water in the pipe which can freeze. Make sure you drain the outside faucet, close it and remove the garden hose. The outdoor shower to the left, has an extra valve inside to drain the system. Lower than all the other pipes, the red valve is turned to let water in the system drain through the pipe below the valve. Learn more tips about shutting off your water supply …

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Water freezes when the temperature falls below freezing, like making ice cubes in your freezer. When water freezes it expands,and in a pipe it may expand enough to burst the pipe depending on how much pressure builds up in the pipe. If a plumbing pipe bursts, the water escapes and goes in many directions and may cause serious damage … and the worst case is when the pipe bursts inside the walls, where you can hear it but can’t see it. That’s when you need to shut your water off as quickly as possible (read Learning to Shut Your Water Off).

Houses in northern climates are built to withstand freezing temperatures. Pipes have insulation between the exterior wall and the water pipes, protecting them from freezing weather. The biggest risk is where there are holes or cracks that allow cold air to enter the home and cause the temperature surrounding the pipe to drop. Water pipes in warmer climates are more likely to lack adequate insulation to protect them from freezing temperatures as they occur infrequently and homeowners aren’t as aware of the problems. READ MORE

Icicles might look magical but they signal that you have problems on your roof. Icicles mean melting snow on the roof is not able to flow freely off the room, causing ices dams. Ice dams are bad because water that can’t escape will often find it’s way into your home following the laws of gravity.

Icicles present a safety hazard as they ultimately melt and fall off the roof. Icicles can fall and hit someone so it’s important to remove the icicles and reduce your risk by blocking the area with yellow hazard tape that you typically see around work zones.

There are lots of reasons why ice dams form and this article explains why they happen and how to reduce the possibility of ice dams occurring. We also explain the type of damage that can occur to your roof and the interior of your home, from an unfinished attic down to your living space. READ MORE

Icicles are dangerous not only to people when they fall, but to your home when water gets inside. Icicles are a warning of  ice damming caused by snow melting on your roof. The biggest problem is the water that gets trapped on your roof behind the ice dam. This water is likely to find it’s way into your home where it can cause extensive problems.

When you have a roof leak caused by ice dams, you’ve got to repair the roof and the interior damage to insulation, ceilings and walls. Preventing the formation of ice dams is the best solution to protect your home. You will save time and stress, and ultimately the money invested in a good ice melt solution will be cheaper than multiple repairs.  READ MORE

Icicles are pretty. Icicles are also a red flag that you’ve got ice dams on your roof and you need to take care of the situation quickly to minimize water damage. Like an iceberg, the icicles are the most visible part of ice dams. The icicles are attached to the ice dam hiding under the snow at the edge of your roof.

The ice dam is solid and won’t leak into your home but it’s a dam and behind the dam, there is a pool of water that collects as the snow further up on your roof melts. It’s this water that can’t drain that ultimately finds it’s way inside your home causing lots of damage. Icicles and ice dams mean big trouble! READ MORE