Prism Specialties Experts Share How to Prepare Your Home for the Winter Season

It is crucial never to underestimate the risks that come with winter storms. Even from the safety of your home, a winter storm can cause a lot of damage, such as frozen pipes, property damage, and more. Not only should you be stocking up on essentials, but you should also be inspecting your home for leaks, prepping for the possibility of power outages, and reviewing essential insurance documents.

The experts at Prism Specialties have put together a 'Home Prep Checklist" that will help prevent damage and protect your home this season:

• Insulate walls and attics: It is essential to ensure your walls and attic are properly insulated. This can help your home retain heat for if there is a power outage.

• Weatherproof windows and doors: Before a storm comes through, look at your windows for cracks, holes, or drafts in your home, and use caulk or weather-stripping to seal them.

• nsulate your pipes: Frozen pipes can be extremely hazardous since they are at risk of bursting. Inspect any vulnerable piping around your home and install insulation to prevent them from freezing.

• Check your smoke and CO detectors: When you are stuck inside your home for an extended period, the risk of accidental fire and gas leaks increases. Test your detectors and insert fresh batteries if necessary.

• Check your fire extinguishers: Make sure all the fire extinguishers in your home are not expired.

• Stock up on ice melt: Unlike snowstorm preparations, ice storm preparation will require more water-damage control and prevention. When using ice melt, ensure standing water can drain away from the house.

• Have a plan for backup heating: Gas generators or fuel- based heating systems should be carefully monitored and ventilated.

• Review your property insurance: In the unfortunate case that a winter storm damages your home, ensuring you have recently reviewed and have safe access to these documents is essential. Familiarize yourself with a list of what's covered so that you can take quick action to repair, replace, or restore damaged items.

"We want to ensure that homeowners take the correct precautionary measures this winter season to prevent a disaster for occurring," said James Copeland, the Director of Technical Services at Prism Specialties. "However, we know accidents and disasters do still happen and sometimes the damage is beyond our control. Should there be significant damage that needs repair or restoration post-winter storm, we are always here to help – whether that's water damage, essential documents, your kitchen appliances, and more."

Since 1993, Prism Specialties has been committed to providing expert restoration services for more specialty categories than anyone in the market.