Self Home Inspection
San Diego and much of SoCal were recently hit by Hurricane Hilary, and while many may have had flooding, damages from wind, or possibly only had a little rain. One thing we can all be sure, we need to reduce the amount of mosquitoes! We were looking at the San Diego Reddit community and spotted an important alert for locals. San Diegans have an opportunity to do a Self Home Inspection to make sure we do not have risks of mosquitoes!
Dump Any Standing Water!
Considering we all have one common unique enemy, we all need to know how to fight them. Mosquitoes are one of the most commonly hated bugs in the world. We can all combat mosquitoes by removal of standing water as this is their breeding ground. This is at least part of the reason we suggest after any rainfall, homeowners do a walk around the home to ensure the property has not sustained any damage and also, check for standing water.
The only standing water allowed should be the Mosquito Bucket of Doom! If you already have a mosquito problem, you may want to consider this extra tool in combatting mosquitoes.
Self Conduct Home Inspection After Rainfall
Home Inspection task isn’t hard at all! In fact, you have probably done a little inspecting around your home naturally after rain storms in the past. This simple walk-through will give you confidence in your home’s security, your home’s condition, and also this is the first step to keeping a well-maintained home. In addition, removing any standing water to reduce the mosquito threat is a bonus experienced by the nearby community.
All you need to do is visually check the areas around your home! On this walk-through, we will cover extra tips and what to look for around your home, attic, and crawl space.
Home Inspection Walk-Through
The crawl space is a great place to start, but you won’t need to go down there! This is a visual walk-through to ensure there is no standing water or flooding. If you find evidence of moisture or standing water in your crawl space, the standing water will need to be removed, but the moisture is a serious threat to your home.
Upon looking around the crawl space, observe the edges of vents and access panels for pest markings, broken panels, water damage, or air leaks. If you find any issues, call an expert to discuss the particular problem to see if it is worth calling them out to resolve the problem.
If the home has a basement, be sure to go around the outside, check windows leading to the basement, and make sure they are sealed. From the inside of the basement, you will want to check to make sure no rain has found its way to this part of your home.
After ensuring your safety, and that there is no water, check the windows or access points from the inside, inspect the weather stripping and if there has been any leakage from the rain. If you find any flooding in your basement due to the rain, call a water mitigation expert to remove this standing water immediately!
Home Inspection – main living area of your home
The main living area of your home also needs to be inspected, often you will notice these issues while it is raining, but some leaks can sneak by. Check all access points of your home for any signs of water intrusion, including doors, windows, vents, or larger sliding doors.
On each entryway or window check to make sure there is a properly functioning weather stripping material. It is unlikely that you will find much standing water in your home, but if you find any around indoor plant pottery or under the sink, you will want to empty it to remove the pest threats.
The attic is the first space to get hit with a drop from a leaky roof, so it is a good place to check up on after a major storm. If your attic is not as accessible or you cannot physically get into the attic, that is fine, for the self-conducted walk-through, we only need to open the attic door and look around.
If you open the attic and can detect a smell, if you see a leak standing water, or anything else that concerns you, you may want to consider a Free Home Inspection. Often, reputable companies will do an attic inspection for free as it is a complicated space that can have drastically different needs depending on the issue or topic of needs.
Standing Water and Other Threats
As we began the Home Inspection, the crawl space is the most likely to have standing water, as it is the lowest point of the home, and touches the ground level of outside water. Standing water or moisture in the crawl space can lead to a number of more problems. One is that pests other than mosquitoes are also attracted to standing water such as ants, termites, and other rodents.
The crawl space having flooding or standing water can also cause moisture to build up and weaken your home’s structure. The moisture and water make the wooden flameworking of your home bulge, softening it, and also attracting chewing rodents who seek new territory or new nesting spaces.
We all are familiar with the risk of attic mold development after moisture or rain but also caused by standing water that has been left to sit. Standing water if left unchecked in the attic or crawl space level can lead to evaporation into humidity and slowly this moisture can lead to attic mold spore development.
Attic Health Wrap-Up
If you have standing water on your property, definitely want to kick the bucket on that problem, unless it is the Mosquito Bucket of Doom! If you are experiencing flooding in your home, you should be sure to call a flood mitigation expert! If you need help with flooding, moisture removal, or plumbing emergencies in San Diego, call us we can refer you to a reputable local company near your home.
The costs of having standing water on your property are greater than just the pests, the water or moisture can eat away at your home’s structure, and impact its value. As always, if you need services to your attic or your crawl space Attic Health can assist you with Free Home Inspection, Attic Insulation installation, and Attic Cleaning. If you have more concerns about the attic or crawl space, be sure to check out our past blogs packed with resources.