In Western Australia, during the Winter season, the region often experiences wild weather which causes heavy rains and strong winds that could cause low to moderate damage to the house. These damages are often ignored because of the unknown in the exact location of it which eventually led to the worst scenario such as the roof being blown off.
To prevent that from ever happening, you need to understand a bit more about the common spots of the house that are weak against the strong winds. Here are some of the spots that you need to inspect:
1. Roofing Inspection
The first thing that the heavy rains and strong winds would hit is the roof, therefore, checking its condition will be mandatory. In general, the roofing in all of the housing in Western Australia was tough-built and could withstand low to moderately strong winds force.
However, due to certain factors such as age and lack of maintenance, the durability of the roofing will decrease making it at a potential risk to get damaged during the strong winds and heavy rains. Check if there are any missing tiles on the roofing or traces of any crack, roof leaking and damaged tiles, then make a note of later reparation.
2. House Utility Inspection
Electrical, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, plumbing, and gas are included in the house utility that you need to inspect because there’s a high chance the strong winds could affect these parts as well. Start with the most visible one which is the outdoor electrical connection, if you notice any sign of a broken light bulb or wire hanging loose this indicates that the strong winds inflicted severe damage to the electrical which requires an immediate repairman. Next, go to the plumbing section where obviously during the heavy rains, much debris and rubbish could clog the draining system.
Check by opening all of the taps inside and outside the house and notice any sign of slow water draining that indicates something blocking its way. Air conditioning has two parts placed inside and outside of the house. Normally, the outside part of the air conditioning is placed in a high position often on the roof or a special dock attached to the wall which is easily exposed to heavy rains and strong winds.
Therefore, you need to make sure that this one is still in place and that no debris or rubbish is stuck on its fans otherwise it will hinder its usable. Gas pipelines or gas cylinders can be punctured by rubbish thrown by the strong winds so it would be best if you check the outside installation once the heavy rains and strong winds are finished because if it is left punctured the leaking gas could create a fire hazard. Every ventilation surrounding the house should be inspected as well because there’s a high chance that the debris thrown by the strong winds gets stuck on it which could hinder the air circulation in and out of the house.
Sometimes, the ventilation could be damaged if the debris inflicted a huge force of impact.
3. Doors and Windows Inspection
Random flying debris is often the cause of damaging the house utility during the heavy rains and strong winds and some of the common victims are the doors and the windows. Especially the windows, with the current modern house design featuring more glass windows installation, are at the highest risk to be damaged by flying debris, therefore, quick action is needed to repair the damaged windows. While for the doors, even though they were tough-built, you may want to check for any sign of cracks and dents as well as loose hinge and joints which commonly occurs if the doors were hit by a strong force like flying debris.
4. Immediate Inspection and Reparation
All of the above checklists are inspection that needs immediate reparation because, without one of them in a top form, your daily activity could be hindered. For example, if the drains are clogged, you will be having a hard time doing any cleaning activity or even showering. For a detailed inspection after the heavy rains and strong winds, it would be best to be done by a professional because they have years of experience in checking every part of the house that got damaged.
A company like Topspec Building Inspections provide high-quality service of building inspection Perth for your consideration. Another benefit of hiring a professional is having assurance in your safety because doing these inspections is quite dangerous without proper technique and experience. Thank you for reading and feel free to share the article.