Twenty minutes · spring and fall
Your house, on the record, before the storm.
Twice a year, take the same photos from the same spots and check a few things. If a storm comes through later, you have a dated record of how the house looked before it. Print this page or keep it open on your phone as you walk around.
The photos
Dated photos help show what changed after a storm.
- All four sides of the house, wide, on a clear day. Stand in the same spots every time.
- Each roof slope, zoomed from the ground: vents, flashings, the chimney.
- Close-ups of the soft things: gutters, downspouts, the AC unit, window screens, the deck, the mailbox.
The paperwork
Find it now, not the week after a storm.
- Receipts and warranties for the roof, siding, gutters and windows, filed in one place.
- Your declarations page filed, with the deductible and whether the policy is RCV or ACV written on the front. Your agent can tell you which.
- Your policy renewal read when it arrives: deductibles, RCV or ACV, roof endorsements.
The house
The small things that keep small problems small.
- Attic: insulation above the joists, no air leaks at the hatch, lights or chases, bath fans ducted outside, soffit vents open with baffles.
- Gutters cleaned, downspouts running, extensions on and pointed away from the house.
- Caulk at windows, doors and trim intact.
- Trees trimmed off the roof, dead limbs over the house removed.
- In the fall: a roof rake by the door.
Write these two names down now
The contractor you would call to look at the house after a storm, and a steam removal company for ice dams. If a contractor left you a Roof Facts Card, their name is already on it.
More on storms, photos and the claim process in Guide 8: Storm Ready: Hail, Wind and Winter. If a storm has already hit, start with the Do I Have Damage? sheet