Yard Tips, Tricks and Helpful Hints to Keep Your Home Safe.

Everyone likes to have a nice manicured yard. But it’s so much more than just being pretty to look at and adding curb appeal. Yard maintenance can save you from dangerous situations when the weather takes a turn for the worst.  Fire risks, falling limbs, debris clogged gutters, etc. have the potential to cause dangerous and costly damage to your home.  In the content below we’ll go over some simple and effective ways to help keep you and your home safe all year round.

Trees:

Trees are a wonderful addition to a yard; they provide shade, can bear fruit, and children love to climb on them. But if not properly maintained they can also be quite dangerous. Making sure to keep them trimmed back away from your home will help to lessen falling leaves and needles on your roof and into your gutters. When foliage falls onto your roof and isn’t removed regularly, it begins to break down. This creates the perfect habitat for moss and mold.  These mossy patches will then hold water causing damage to your roofing. If unchecked for long enough, it can eventually lead to water being able to seep through to the plywood, and down to the framing of your home. Once water reaches your attic space, mold can grow at a rapid rate. damaging roof joists and potentially spreading to other parts of your home.

When falling leaves and needles tumble down your roof and into your gutters, they get clogged, impeding their ability to do as they were designed and direct water away from your home. Your gutters will hold onto the water allowing it to overflow either down the front of your home or along the sides. This can be very problematic as water then tends to work its way to the paths of least resistance. Which tend to be along window seams and doorways. These areas were never intended for so much exposure to water and will being to swell, crack and mold. They can break down to the point of falling apart.

Falling limbs is another dangerous tree pose. Cutting back overextended branches and removing dead or diseased parts of the tree can save you from costly and dangerous damage to your home. Wind and rain can be more powerful than we think, causing weak or sick trees to snap off large limbs. Whether it’s in your yard, on your car, your roof, or any other number of places.

Shrubs and bushes:

Flowering and decorative plants are wonderful for your yard. They provide color, depth, and style to your home. But they also carry along with them potentially harmful qualities if not adequately maintained. Bushes and shrubs tend to have their greenery on the outer part of their branches, leaving the inside dry and full of fallen leaves and twigs. Both of which are fuel for fires. As they can be a very big plant, with enough fuel from it, fire can spread in a flash. There is also the concern of the heat they produce while burning and creating embers which can travel and ignite fires in other areas. Making sure to keep bushes and shrubs a safe distance from your home can aid in fire prevention, alongside regular trimming and decluttering of the plants.

Regardless of the type, size, or amount of plants you have, raking and removal of loose debris is a top priority. On the ground these can lead to fire spread; on your home, development of mold and mildew. Keeping the greenery around your home happy, healthy, and well maintained will not only help to create a beautiful sanctuary for you but also aid in the protection of your home.

In the unfortunate event that damage does occur, call your local experts at West Coast Fire & Water to assist in remediating the damage.