Getting ready for summer has gotten more serious than buying a new swimsuit or cleaning the grill. Weather patterns keep shifting, and it’s a good bet that when summer settles in, it will be hotter than in years past. In turn, hotter weather changes the growing season and affects wildlife, including insects, which depend on flowers, shrubs, and trees for food and shelter. Consider these four tips for preparing your home for summer to get ready for whatever summer may throw at you.
Do you know what to do when the sirens go off? How about when the rivers rise, or lightning sets the woods on fire? These days, everyone everywhere needs a plan for coping with severe weather. Think about the various types of hazards severe summer weather can bring in your area: high winds, torrential rain, hail, lightning, and attendant power outages.
If you need to trim trees to reduce the chance of limbs falling and damaging your home, contact a tree service. If you don’t have underground shelter available in your home, find a nearby building that can offer shelter, perhaps a church or municipal building.
If flooding is a problem in your area, learn how to obtain sandbags quickly. Consult the Federal Emergency Management Agency website for suggestions on preparations for the conditions that could affect your home.
One of the best aspects of summer is letting fresh air flow into your home. But your enjoyment will be spoiled if there are gaps, tears, or holes in the screens that are supposed to keep insects out. Repair or replace damaged screens. If screens are beyond repair, consider upgrading to new retractable screens for windows and doors: these enable you to leave doors and windows open while screening out bugs and limiting damage from UV light. Then when you don’t need them, they curl up inside a housing on the door jam or window frame.
When it’s too hot to open the shades and windows, you need a tuned-up air conditioning system with a fresh filter for cooling. But don’t pay extra to cool the outdoors. Inspect all doors and windows and seal up gaps with fresh caulk. Make sure doors have adequate weatherstripping, so the cool air you’re AC is generating stays inside where it belongs.
Mosquitos and other insect pests love standing water, and mosquitos breed in it. Make sure you change birdbath water regularly and turn empty planters upside down, so they don’t collect water during rainstorms.
However, rain barrels are a good idea to catch and retain water from your roof for potential dry spells. Just make sure the barrels have lids to keep bugs out and minimize drowning dangers for children.
There are many more chores to do to prepare your home for summer, both inside and out. These four tips for preparing your home for summer should be enough to get you started; then, you can move on to setting ceiling fans to turn counter-clockwise, hanging blackout curtains that keep hot, harsh sun out of your rooms, and decluttering for a cleaner, airier, and cooler look.