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Storm proof your home: 10 tips

August 3, 2020 Leave a Comment

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By Stuart Tucker

Following the storms across NSW last week, online tradie platform hipages observed a 71% increase week-on-week in storm-related job requests.

Worker sweeping leaves and sticks from a valley of a roof.

This included a 185% increase in roof repair requests, 90% increase in gutter cleaning jobs and 29% increase in window repairs with these figures expected to grow as clear weather sweeps across the state.

Whilst Australia’s wild weather is inevitable, there are ways you can prepare your home and your household for when a storm hits, minimising damage and ensuring your safety.

Secure your home
If you’ve heard reports of expected storms in your area, the first thing you should do is ensure your home is as secure as possible. This includes putting away outdoor furniture or play equipment and ensuring there is no debris in your garden or surrounds including branches or wood. It’s also best to park your car under cover if possible as well.

Survey the area
If you have a tree located close to your home, this could pose a risk of damaging your home and roof during a storm. Trim back branches and remove any trees that pose a danger to avoid thousands of dollars worth of damage to your home. Consider doing this quarterly to ensure you’re not scrambling at the last minute. With services like hipages offering tradies on-demand, hiring a local licensed arborist is easier than ever meaning you can stay on top of jobs ahead of storm season.

Keep the roof over your head
Your roof is one of the most vulnerable areas of your home in a storm so you need to keep yours well maintained throughout the year. Prior to a storm rolling through, ensure there is no pre-existing damage to your roof like loose tiles or sheets. If there’s any physical damage, repair this as soon as you can. Remember if your roof is in poor condition it’s much more likely to succumb to the ravages of a storm.

Clear your gutters
Gutters are your home’s first line of defence protecting against leaks. Gutters should be checked regularly but even more so before a storm to ensure they are clear of any debris or obstructions to avoid water overflowing into the eaves of your roof.

Fix your fence
It’s important to check your fence for unstable bases, damaged slats and loose and/or damaged screws and hinges which could cause serious problems. If you identify any of these issues, call in a professional tradesperson to make repairs, securing your fence against storms and high winds.

Secure your doors and windows
Some of the most common damage to occur during a storm is to doors and windows, typically due to a failure of the closure system. For peace of mind, it’s important to know that your windows and doors are strong and safe enough to withstand a storm. Do so by hiring a licensed handyman to install sturdy hinges and locks on your doors and windows.

Have a solid foundation
Storms can lead to floods, which happens more often in some states across the nation. Flooding can cause homes to collapse due to inadequate foundations. If you’re concerned about your home, have a structural engineer inspect your foundations and make any required repairs or reinforcements to keep it standing strong for years to come.

Structural property damage
Any damage caused by heavy storms can have serious implications to the structure of your home and make it more at risk in future. Following extreme weather, check for cracks appearing in walls and windows or doors starting to jam. If you see any of these in your home, call in a qualified structural engineer to help to repair these issues promptly.

Create an emergency kit, just in case!
Some storms can lead to blackouts and other disruptions to your usual homelife. If you know a storm is coming, prepare an emergency kit including torches, candles, matches, canned food, a can opener, bottled water and potentially first aid supplies to get you through until power is reconnected to your home.

Have a plan
Creating a home emergency plan can help reduce any stress should you and your family need to evacuate in the case of a severe storm. This should outline the safe exit points in your home, an agreed meeting point and a way to stay in contact should you become separated from each other. It is also a good idea to have emergency evacuation bags packed with food, water and clothes, particularly if you’re in flood prone areas.

-Stuart Tucker is Chief Customer Officer at hipages

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The patient has very much bounced back! Letterbox The patient has very much bounced back!

Letterbox kinder egg deliveries from a friend, dressing changes without a flinch and refusing to nap despite all the bribes (check the face on him in pic 3!).

Thanks for all your care and messages/comments for this tired and shaken up mama! Now very relieved and grateful 🙏
Before & after It's not just the award winning de Before & after

It's not just the award winning designer houses that get us excited here. It's also the beloved family homes which are renovated and extended to make them fit for purpose so people can continue to live where they love 🤗

@inspiredspacesaus helped her clients with teenage kids transform this house in Sydney's Hills District inside and out, making it their forever home. 

Due to the nature of the block they could only extend sideways and then gave it street appeal with render, new windows and doors.

See inside on the blog now, via link in bio. It was completely overhauled!
Charlie doesn't recommend running head first into Charlie doesn't recommend running head first into tiled steps 🤕

Oh what a night. Thankfully Hornsby Hospital were as amazing as always and we avoided stitches. All taped and glued  back together and now to keep him calm for the next few days (🤪) and watch for signs of concussion. 

Bravest little patient ever. Yes I've had a 🍷

Funny how we go into super organised mama mode in times like these. Grabbed dinosaurs, textas and scrapbook on the way out in case we had a long wait!

UPDATE: thanks for all the love! Charlie is so well this morning after a big sleep!
Australian made bathroomware is seriously impressi Australian made bathroomware is seriously impressive!

The new @studio.xox ONLY sells Australian brands. Like @nood_co coloured basins, lead-free eco brass from @faucetstrommen and @lindseywherrett's  ceramic basins made by hand in Tassie.

And as for their Sydney showroom (they also sell online): WOW.

See and read more on the blog now via link in bio.

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#creatingbeautifulspaces #homestylingdesign
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I'm THRILLED to be an ambassador for the brand new I'm THRILLED to be an ambassador for the brand new @madeinaustshow in Sydney this August.

🦘🐨Forget every tacky association you ever had about touristy Australian made and prepare to see a showcase of the best of home, lifestyle, fashion and beauty made right here. If the pandemic has made you appreciate buying local even more, this is for you.

It's the first business to business trade event connecting retailers with Australian made products to champion our local makers🙏

Apply to exhibit or find out more at their website, via their bio, now!

Are YOU buying more Australian made post covid?

#madeinaustralia #australianmade #aussiemade #aussiedesign
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A big fat NOPE! 💧 

Which is why we have recently covered ours with a Caesarstone top (thanks to @justinplace_sydney for the advice and supply) and the sweet RELIEF of not having to worry about this high traffic area anymore, I'm telling you!🤗

Doesn't matter what they tell you or how many times it's sealed, I'm not sure it's a great idea in a room which is so, well, wet!

I love having the warmth of timber in the bathroom and it's a beautiful piece, but timber on the top? Never again.

Ours probably lasted a year (if that) before it started to go downhill (and we want a good decade out of a bathroom, right?!). 2.5 years on, everything else in this bathroom looks virtually brand new and the water marked vanity top was really letting the side down and making me sad!

But I'm so pleased with this solution, I have to say! Took the plumber less than an hour to remove the sink, install the top and connect the sink back up. We didn't need to move the tap and it isn't too close to the basin.

The kids are allowed to brush their teeth and wash their hands (liquid soap 🥴) in here again and I can leave my hair straightener on there with gay abandon 😆

The reflective surface (which I can clean with whatever I like!💪🏻) brightens the room up too!

Next week I'll tell you what I really think of my brass tile trim too 😉

#interiorsaddictbathroomreno2 #interiorsaddictfamilyhomereno #timbervanity
Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than F Is there a more decadent and delicious soup than French onion?

I think not!

Grab the recipe on the blog this morning via link in bio.
Get to know me! I haven't done one of these in YE Get to know me!

I haven't done one of these in YEARS so there's possibly thousands of you who don't know my back story. Here's a few things you may not know about me!

✔️ I'm English 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and I moved here (just for one year) back in 2008😆 

✔️ I can't end the day without a bath, even if I get home really late or on a really hot day. It's a mental health thing and my happy place. 🛁 

✔️ Before becoming a blogger and running my own small business, I was a journalist from the age of 18. My favourite news gathering times were as a newspaper crime reporter (bit different to interiors!) 📓 

✔️ I once worked at New Scotland Yard in London 🚔 

✔️I had an interview at Oxford (didn't get in!) but chose not to go to uni at all after being offered a job on the local paper #universityoflife 😁

✔️ My mum died when I was 3, I have an excellent dad and one sister (younger) in the UK ❤️ 🇬🇧 

✔️ At school, my favourite subject was French 🇫🇷 and I was head girl 🤓🤓

✔️ I'm addicted to ☕️ , long hot baths and💄 (been wearing it since I was about 14!)

✔️ I'm not a phonecall person and will never ever pick up an unknown number. Ever. They can leave a message 😁

✔️ My favourite cuisine is Japanese 🍣 🍜 and Damian and I honeymooned in Tokyo and Venice 

✔️ I have zero design qualifications. I just started blogging about my passion, which is trying to persuade everyone to #heartyourhome That was 11 years ago...

✔️ My favourite tipple is a good GnT or🍷 

✔️ Cheesy as it sounds, 💁‍♀️being a mum is my absolute biggest joy in life 🧒👦

✔️ I will never give up my old school paper diary! Has to be A5 and week to view 📖 

✔️ My official surname isn't Bishop. I kept my maiden name for work after I got married but changed it for everything else. Often confuse myself!

✔️ I didn't get my Ps until I was 37 and I'm still a terrible parker 😯 🅿️

Hope you feel like you know me a bit better 😘

📸 @vanlowvanlow
Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 @nood_co coloured con Blue, green or lilac? 🎨 

@nood_co coloured concrete basins is a great Aussie business success story. Although co founder Matt Di Costa first found fame as one half of Matt and Kim on The Block, he hasn't relied on this to build his brand.

“We are very honoured to have been a part of The Block, and all they have done for us. I am, however, a believer in letting the product take centre stage,” he says.

Read our interview with Matt via link in bio now.

🙏Share your favourite colour basin in the comments!

#colouredconcrete #noodco #colouredbasin #blockheads #the block #bathroomtrends2022

Pic 1 by @naibudesign_ and 2 by @twostyleinteriors
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