Whether you are settling down in the country, Baton Rouge, good old New Orleans, or any other part of the Bayou State, you need to make sure that you know what it takes to care for this type of property. There are many tips and tricks you need to know to make sure that your Louisiana home is always going to be kept in the best condition possible. Here are some of our best tips.
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Start from the Ground Up
When you first get into your home, you need to make sure that you inspect it from the ground up. There are some things that could affect the health of your property that you might otherwise miss as they could be hidden in the crawl space under your home.
Many properties in Louisiana are raised off the ground by a foundation. This gives them a very distinctive look that many property owners admire. However, the crawl space created underneath can present us with several issues.
Primarily, you can find that a lot of the moisture from the soil of the property will seep up here and create a damp space under the home. This can then cause the wood floors in the property above to begin to rot and crack. This means that your home could come under risk of attack from termites and other issues. By choosing to look to a spray foam roof repair specialist, they will be able to go over the entire property from the foundation to the very peak of your roof tiles to ensure that everything is up to code. No matter what type of building you have, you should invest in an inspection like this, commercial spray foam roofing services will prove to be just as important as others.
Air-Conditioning and Pool Maintenance
Louisiana can get hot and humid in the summer. Though we might not see the biting chill of winter in quite the same way as some of the states further north, there is no denying that we more than make up for it come the summer. You need to make sure that you have a good HVAC system installed in your home, and that it is able to run properly to help keep your home to the temperature that it should be.
Part of this can be addressed during your wider property inspection above. If your home has any gaps in it, there is a strong chance that the cooler air generated by your AC will just get sucked straight out of it. This, in turn, means that you will have to spend more to keep the home cool as it won’t heat as efficiently. You need to make sure that you are prepped to find any leaks in your home so you can then eliminate them and improve the efficiency of your AC.
You also can’t forget about the filters that you put in these units. They will need to be changed out every few months to guarantee that you are getting plenty of fresh air around your home. Make sure that you always have some spare to hand, and build in some AC maintenance into your general routines every few months so you don’t forget.
Finally, you also need to consider your pool filters – if you are lucky enough to have a pool that you can cool off in. You need to make sure that you always have the correct chemical balance in the pool, in addition to committing to regular cleaning so it is always safe to swim in. If you do not want to handle this yourself, make sure you have a trusted pool technician with whom you can set up regular appointments.
Prep for Hurricane Season
If you are at all near the coast, you always need to be prepared for Hurricane Season. From June to November each year, hurricanes can form in the Atlantic Ocean and – as Katrina proved in 2005 – they can cause massive amounts of damage to Louisiana.
Even if you do not live directly on the coast, it does not hurt to ensure that your house is prepared in case one comes by. Investing in a basic storm kit is a great start, and you should also look into high-quality storm shutters for your windows and doors. These could be key in keeping the damage within your property to a minimum.
If you have a lot of furniture and other goods outside in the garden, you need to make sure that you have a secure way of locking them up and keeping them out of harm’s way in the middle of the storm. You should also know important details like the location of your stop valves and cut-off points for your utilities.
With hurricane season, you have ample time to prep beforehand. The more that you can do, the better prepared you can be overall. Hurricanes are a very real threat in Louisiana, so the more you can do to prepare for them, the more you will hopefully be able to weather them.
Enjoy Life in the Bayou State!
Living in Louisiana is wonderful. You will find such a rich culture waiting for you, and so many new things to explore. Anyone who is looking for a friendly corner of the world to settle down in is going to find people waiting to welcome them in. As with being a homeowner in any other part of the country, you need to make sure that you understand what is expected to keep your property in tip-top condition.
No matter what, you need to ensure that your house is going to stay standing for as long as possible. Much of this comes down to a regular schedule of maintenance and checks to ensure that everything is always up to code. With a lot of hard work and research on your part, you will have all the expertise you need to be able to keep your Louisianan home looking as good as possible.