3 Common Kinds of Property Damage

It’s no secret that you want your house to be a safe and welcoming place that’s capable of supporting and protecting your whole family. If your home is many decades old or newer and poorly constructed, however, it may be vulnerable to complications. Even if your home is rock-solid, it still isn’t immune to issues.

When you experience property damage, your home feels much less secure than it did before. To prepare yourself in the event of an incident—perhaps you didn’t know hail damage was so common, for instance—read this guide to common kinds of property damage.

Water Damage

First, water damage of all kinds significantly harms a home. In adverse weather, ranging from a hurricane to chronic rain over several days, surrounding water threatens to invade and flood your basement and other areas. This leads to a days-long process of mitigation, leaving home and getting professional help, cleaning up, and preventing future mold damage.

Meanwhile, internal pipe problems also induce flooding. A leak, perhaps one you don’t catch until much later, means a costly cleanup. In winter, your pipes can burst due to water freezing from within. In general, the pervasiveness of water when loosed in and around your house causes a lot of headaches, so maintaining your pipe system is wise.

Wind Damage

Another common kind of property damage is wind damage. High-velocity winds accompanying a storm or pressure fluctuations stress a house’s exterior greatly, compromising the integrity of your roof and other exposed elements of your home.

Meanwhile, winds of a certain strength cause surrounding trees to fall. If one falls onto your house, a tree can cause blunt-force damage that calls for professional attention. Among other things to do when a tree falls, calling a certified arborist—though costly—is your next move. Remember to ask your insurance company how much of a tree cleanup they cover.

Hail Damage

An insidious but sometimes unknown threat is hail. Hailstones form when budding raindrops shoot up into colder parts of the atmosphere and then fall, growing in size as they encounter more moisture. You can do precious little to avoid hail, but large-enough stones cause substantial roof damage. Like with other types of property damage, your insurance may cover repairs if you have the right policy.

Guest Post - 15 apps to make home inventory surprisingly painless

If you ever need to take a home inventory, you’ll need to have a clear record of everything in your house and know exactly how much it’s all worth so that you can be reimbursed in case anything unfortunate happens — because it’s always best to expect the best but be prepared for the worst. That means everything in your drawers, cupboards, and closets. All the tools in your garage and all your electronic gadgets. Your furniture, bedding, and towels. Even family heirlooms, keepsakes, and collectable items. Everything.

If all of this planning and organization sounds pretty daunting, we get it. Without the right tools at your disposal, keeping track of your stuff is a messy affair. Thankfully, this is 2019 and there are dozens of apps to help you stay organized — whether you’re moving or simply tidying up. Here are the top 15.

Author Bio: Karlie Kramer writes on behalf of Esurance on how to make all things home-related surprisingly painless. Specifically, she's interested in helping people stay organized and clutter-free. Her most recent piece is on 15 apps to make home inventory and organization simple.