Home improvement is something homeowners need to do on a regular basis. While the term implies you are making your home better with every improvement, it takes a fair bit of work just to stay still. The best home improvements are those that maintain existing features while adding others.
Some home improvement projects can improve the safety of your home. These projects will ensure that your home is less likely to become the victim of theft or a devastating accident.
These are some of the home improvements that affect the safety of your home.
Caring for the structure
Most home improvement projects deal with independent parts of the home. However, the structure of your home also needs work sometimes. As such, you should invest in caring for the home as a whole.
Your home’s longevity is at stake. This is why these home improvement projects can help you lower your insurance premiums. A home with a new roof, for example, is less likely to become flooded in a bad storm or hurricane.
Some of the things you can do for the structure of your home include:
- refit or replace your roof
- reinforce the floorboards
- replace parts of walls that have suffered major water damage
- reseal the attic
Fireproof your home
It’s not possible to entirely fireproof your home, especially if you live in a state where wildfires are common. However, there are various types of home improvement that make your home more resistant to fire.
In the first place, building a home using fire-resistant materials is advisable. Keep this in mind if you are rebuilding or building a new extension.
You can also clear away any flammable brush nearby your home and build fire-resistant boundaries that can help prevent wildfires from reaching your walls.
Install security features
Another way to improve your home’s safety with home improvement projects is by installing security features. This is not just about installing alarm systems, although that is necessary for any house. Rather, you should also consider turning your home into a smart home.
A smart home has a number of benefits for security. For instance, instead of having a traditional bell, you can get an intercom that goes straight to your phone. This way you do not have to be home to answer, and many burglars check if someone is home using this technique. You can also turn on music and lights when you are not there to make it seem like someone is home.
You’ll benefit from the features of the smart home in other ways too, so it might be worth considering killing two birds with one stone.
Fit and service smoke detectors
It is impossible to overstate the importance of smoke detectors in your home. Smoke detectors can mean the difference between a fire scare and your whole home burning down. The problem is that although most homeowners have smoke detectors, they rarely service them or check if they’re working.
This should be an annual part of your home improvement. By doing it on a regular basis, you minimize the risk of any unforeseen problems.
Don’t paper over cracks
A common mistake people make when doing home improvement is plastering the cracks they find in their walls. This is not necessarily going to be a problem, but cracks are often a sign that there is something wrong with the plumbing. If you cannot see an external reason for your walls to be cracking, you should have a professional come to see if you have sprung a leak.
That’s not to say that all cracks are signs of plumbing problems. You will have to use common sense in deciding whether a plumber is necessary.
The above home insurance projects benefit the safety of your home. Some of them can even help lower your insurance premiums. Remember that home improvement is necessary just to stand still.
