We want you to feel safe in your home! Freedom Insurance Group, Inc. cares about more than just your home insurance in Yardley, PA; we care about your safety and your budget. In order to prevent potential hazards, accidents, or other problems from taking you by surprise, try these helpful tips for maintaining a safe home between seasons.
Outdoor Inspections
- Gutters: Easy to clog and get backed up with debris over the fall, gutters should be cleaned out and repaired or replaced when necessary. Check how the water is flowing and draining to prevent water damage from eroding your siding or causing damage to the roof.
- Trees: The weight of snow often causes boughs to bend and eventually break. Fallen limbs might go unnoticed while you are less likely to spend time outdoors, so take a minute to pick up stray branches in the driveway or yard that are large enough to trip over or cause damage to cars and other vehicles. Make sure to trim healthy yard plants back from electric wires, cooling devices, air filters, and other machinery.
- Roof: Harsh winter weather can do a number on your roof. Make sure to inspect your roof before the excessive heat of summer sets in, which can open any cracks caused by ice from previous months. Don’t forget the roof of your garage, shed, or any other enclosed structure on your property!
- Landscaping Equipment: Often, landscaping tools go several months before being reused, and it is easy for them to erode or for parts to break while remaining unmaintained for too long. Avoid accidents by checking all equipment for missing or loose pieces, and rust (that could cause it to break unexpectedly).
- Windows and Doors: Important for internal and external safety, windows and doors are used heavily year round. It is imperative to check and make sure all locks are functioning and have at least two matching keys to go with them. Inspect the seals on your windows and doors routinely, so that you don’t acquire any costly drafts or unwanted pests.
- Heating and Cooling Systems: Both your heater and your air conditioner run nearly constantly during half of the year and sit dormant for the other half. Prolonged use as well as staying stagnant leads to natural degradation and a need for inspection. Right before Spring is the perfect time to hire a professional to tune up these systems and replace your furnace filter or other air filtration devices.
Indoor Inspections
- Electric: One of the most common causes of household fires is actually from faulty wiring! Without checking your electrical outlets and cords for potential fire hazards, you could be putting your home at risk, or even yourself.
- Fire Extinguishers: Make sure to look over your fire extinguisher before backyard barbeques have a chance to set dry grass ablaze. Check the nozzle, hose, and pressure gauge to ensure that your fire extinguisher is ready to operate and easily at hand.
- Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors: It is easy for smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to run out of battery and turn off without a homeowner noticing. Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, is lethal if inhaled for too long, and can come from machines present in your home. Be sure to replace the batteries for your detectors at regular intervals, because they could potentially save your life and that of your family.
- Vents: Clogged vents that help to circulate air can negatively influence physical health if they are not cleaned properly. The vent to your dryer can cause warm air to cycle back into the room and raise household temperatures; it can even become combustible if too much lint accumulates. Simply cleaning the vents that you can reach could prevent a more costly electric bill and avert a medical bill.
Here at Freedom Insurance Group, Inc., we want to help you stay safe throughout the year and avoid having to pay extensive bills unnecessarily. If you are a homeowner and looking for a package to also cover your car, combining our home insurance with auto insurance in Yardley, PA could save you an additional 15%! Just like you want the best for your family, we want the best for ours. We promise to always provide the coverage that you and your family deserves, while always trying to save you as much money as we can.
