Extreme heat and drought, flooding, wildfires, hurricanes, severe thunderstorms and tornados are all signs of climate change’s impact. While that sounds increasingly like the evening newscast, these extreme weather events affect our environment — and our homes.
Mother Nature takes a toll, from temporary and permanent relocation to damage and structure loss, but homeowners can improve their odds by taking a few steps to climate-proof their homes.
[Read: How Climate Change Could Impact Your Home Value]
You May Want Another Paint Job
The January wildfires around Los Angeles are still fresh in the mind. More than two dozen people died, and upward of 15,000 homes and businesses were razed, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The two largest blazes — the Eaton and Palisades fire — take the second and third spots on California’s list of most destructive fires on record.
“Even without a fire, heat alone can lead to ongoing maintenance issues like peeling paint or roof damage,” says Erika Tortorici, owner and principal of Optimum Insurance Solutions based in South Hamilton, Massachusetts.
Peeling paint or missing shingles may seem like a minor issue, Tortorici says, “but they can complicate the process of securing or renewing homeowners insurance. Insurers are using drones, satellite images and third-party inspections to flag wear and tear that could eventually lead to claims.”
Paint doesn’t just make a house look better; it protects the home from weather damage. Aside from looking unsightly, an unpainted house is less protected from mold and mildew. Metal is less likely to rust; wood is less likely to rot.
How much this could set you back: According to the home improvement network and information company Angi, the average cost to paint the exterior of a house is $3,178.
Keep an Eye on Your Roof
All roofs have to be replaced eventually, but some proactive steps can buy a homeowner time. If your house is often shaded by trees and that keeps your roof constantly moist, it’s a perfect environment for moss to grow. A moss-covered roof may sound charming at first, but it’s not good for the roof’s longevity.
“Moss traps moisture, which can lead to rotted or deteriorated shingles, mold growth, leaks and ultimately a shorter roof lifespan,” Tortorici says.
Moss removal is fairly inexpensive, she adds, but she wouldn’t recommend anyone do it themselves. Even if you aren’t afraid of climbing onto the roof and falling off, Tortorici says, “if done incorrectly, such as scraping or power washing too aggressively, it can damage the roof.”
She also recommends keeping an eye on your roof during the winter if a lot of snow is covering it and you’re experiencing a long stretch of cold temperatures. You may need to bring in a professional to shovel off your roof.
“I wouldn’t advise rushing to remove it after every snowfall,” Tortorici says. “However, if snow accumulates over an extended period without any sun or warmer temperatures to help melt it, it can lead to ice dams, which are a common cause of insurance claims.”
How much this could set you back: The average cost of a new roof is $21,400, according to the home improvement website, This Old House. The average cost of cleaning a roof, according to Angi, is $458.
[Can You Build a Fireproof Home?]
Insulate Your Home
This is one of those boring but important home improvements — nobody shows off their insulation to visitors (and if you do, you may not have many repeat visitors). But better insulation can lower energy bills in a time of escalating costs as extreme temperatures become more common.
If you look at insulation in the broad sense, that can also mean installing a new door or energy-efficient windows, and those are exciting home improvements.
“Exterior doors and windows can make a huge difference both in terms of energy efficiency, with insulation layers for heat transmittance, coatings for direct solar impact and tighter seals for reducing air escape,” says Zachary Carpenter, president of To Better Days Building, a custom luxury home building company in Miami. He also points out that stronger doors and windows can protect your home more from “water intrusion.”
Homes in hurricane-prone Florida certainly have to worry about that, but anyone who lives in an area that gets a lot of thunderstorms may want to do more to keep water at bay. According to the National Weather Service, 100,000 thunderstorms hit the United States a year, though only 10% are severe (generally winds stronger than 58 miles an hour or with three-quarter-inch hail).
How much this could set you back: Oh, the sky is the limit on insulation prices, depending on what you want to do. The website HomeGuide.com estimates that the average home insulation costs are $4,400 — that would be if you’re insulating your walls. If you’re buying new windows, HomeGuide.com suggests it can cost up to $3,000 per window for an energy-efficient window. Angi prices the average exterior door cost at $1,452, but there are so many factors that go into a door that it’s difficult to gauge how much that will cost: For instance, are you putting in a new screen door, storm door, single door or double door? Are you installing this yourself or hiring somebody to put it in?
[Read: 21 Sustainable Building Materials to Consider for Your Home]
Back Up Your Power and Heating and Cooling
Nate Siegel is a professor of mechanical engineering at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Energy conservation is one of his main specialties, and Siegel says homeowners would be smart to think about energy costs as they consider climate impacts. He also recommends insulating your home by sealing leaks, especially around doors and windows.
Siegel says many homes are almost purely electric or are otherwise reliant on power and gas provided by utilities that may not be available during a weather-related outage. He adds that homeowners may want to consider investing in a backup generator.
“Having a backup generator to keep power on for critical loads, like your refrigerator or sump pump in the basement, is important,” Siegel says.
He suggests that you consider heating your house during an extended winter outage. “In this case, a wood-burning stove is great because it can keep you warm and protect your home from damage caused by frozen pipes,” he says.
How much this could set you back: Again, you could spend a fortune on making sure you have a backup if you lose power. According to Angi, the average cost of a whole-home generator is $5,169, and the average cost of a wood-burning stove is $3,000. If you want to go with solar panels to conserve energy, in that case, the average cost to install a solar panel system is $20,552, after federal tax credits, according to EnergySage.com, an online solar energy marketplace. Even with solar panels, though, you’d need a backup generator or solar battery backup system to avoid power outages.
Landscape for Climate Impact
This is probably going to become more important as the climate evolves, assuming the world continues to get a little hotter.
Siegel suggests controlling brush and other flammable vegetation near your home. “This doesn’t mean that you should chop down trees, but you may consider removing dry brush and dead branches seasonally so that it doesn’t accumulate and become a fire hazard,” Siegel says.
You may want to remove some trees to prevent one from toppling over on your house in a windstorm. Evaluate the health of trees near structures, because a tree weakened by age or disease is more vulnerable to high winds or ice.
If you live in a fire-prone area, the next time you replace your roof or siding, consider fire-resistant materials, suggests Bar Zakheim, CEO of Better Place Design & Build, an accessory dwelling unit contractor in San Diego. “One thing we’ve seen clearly from the recent LA wildfires is that fire-resistant exteriors like tile roofs and stucco are a good investment in this climate,” Zakheim says.
How much this could set you back: According to the website LawnLove, on average, it can cost $2,900 to have your land cleared of brush and trees. Some of it you can do yourself, but depending on the scope of the project, you may need to hire a professional.
Because you can spend so much money on climate-proofing your home, Zakheim advises homeowners to be realistic and understand that there’s only so much you can do.
“It’s important to recognize the limitations of climate proofing here,” Zakheim says. “A big enough wildfire, hurricane, flash flood or mudslide isn’t going to care about your fire-resistant exterior or sump pump. In the long term, the smart move is to insure your home against these kinds of disasters or move to an area that’s less prone to them.”
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Five Ways to Climate-Proof Your Home originally appeared on usnews.com
