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How to Be Financially Prepared for Property Damage or a Natural Disaster

Posted on September 26, 2019

Four Steps to Ensure Your Family is Protected

“I never thought it would happen to me,” is commonly heard in the aftermath of a destructive storm or other natural disaster. Unfortunately, destructive storm damage and catastrophic weather events are becoming more and more common, no matter what part of the world you live in. Hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires and earthquakes can strike at any time, resulting in both structural and personal property damage. In addition to the emotional devastation that comes with property damage, those who haven’t prepared for the financial impact of a natural disaster have a harder road to recovery. In addition to preparing yourself and your family physically through an emergency preparedness checklist, here are four steps to take to ensure you’re prepared financially if Mother Nature wreaks havoc on your property: Continue reading “How to Be Financially Prepared for Property Damage or a Natural Disaster”

Avoiding Summer Garage Fires That Require Fire & Smoke Repair

Posted on May 15, 2018

How’s your garage looking? Spotless, with a place for everything and everything in its place? If you’re like most of us, the answer to that question is no. Our garages are catch-alls for everything we have nowhere else to put. It’s important though, especially as the summer starts to heat up, that we take stock of what’s out there and what could potentially cause problems, such as a garage fire that could result in fire and smoke damage requiring the help of a fire restoration company.

According to FEMA, there are 6,600 garage fires resulting in 30 deaths, 400 injuries and $457 million in property fire damage requiring fire restoration every year. The number one cause of garage fires is electrical malfunction, such as shorts in damaged wires or overloaded outlets and extension cords, so take a tour of your garage and eliminate these obvious fire hazards. But what about the other causes of fire and smoke damage? Let’s take a look at some other tips and tricks to avoid garage fires that might result in a need to call a fire restoration company, and keep your home and family safe all summer, and for the rest of the year too.

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Keep Your Business Running in Case of Storm Damage

Posted on March 27, 2018

Running a business can feel like weathering a storm, even on the best of days. You often wear many hats and put out a ton of fires. You concern yourself with staffing, order supplies and inventory, watch over operations, keep an eye on the bottom line, do your absolute best to take care of your customers and then fall into bed at night and do it all again the next day. You also do your best to plan for the future and cover your bases in case the unexpected happens. But sometimes, despite our best-laid plans, disaster strikes. Do you have a plan to ensure your business’ continuity if storm damage requires storm repair or restoration to your property?
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Six Ways to Reduce Stress When a Weather Disaster Occurs

Posted on February 23, 2018

Your home or business has been damaged by a storm or weather disaster. You thought it would never happen to you, but it did. In the aftermath, it’s hard to feel like things will ever be right again. It’s only natural to feel anxiety and stress in the face of the damage. You’re overwhelmed. You want things to get back to normal, and you don’t know where to start.
Here’s a list of six things you can do to take care of yourself and those around you while you head down the path back to normalcy. You’ll be there before you know it.

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Ice Dam Damage From Winter Weather

Posted on February 8, 2018

Ice and icicles are a part of winter, and they can be beautiful as they catch the sun or create interesting formations. However, winter weather damage from snow and ice accumulating on your roof or hanging off your gutters and eaves is downright dangerous and can cause major damage to your roof. Winter storm damage can even result in leaks coming into your home, through ceilings, walls and insulation.
In order to avert disaster, it’s important to know how winter weather and storms can damage your home. Snow and ice that build up on the eaves of your home cause a barrier between the warmth of the interior of your home and the cold air around it. This causes the insulated snow between the layers to melt, and that water flows down to your eaves and gutters where it freezes again, forming ice dams.
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Add Your Holiday Purchases to Your Homeowner’s Insurance

Posted on January 15, 2018

We’re well into 2018 and the holidays are a pleasant memory. Hopefully, Santa brought your family everything they asked for. The big question now is, are all of those new toys, jewelry and electronics covered by your current homeowners’ insurance policy? Your policy should include personal property coverage for everything inside your four walls. Valuables such as jewelry, artwork and musical instruments should be listed on separate line items, on a document called a personal property schedule.

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Top 10 Holiday Safety Tips | Hays + Sons

Posted on December 21, 2017

Lights and decorations add to the festivity of the holiday season. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a tree trimmed with twinkling lights, stockings hung over the fireplace and maybe even some over-the-top lights on the exterior of your house (ala Clark Griswold.) Continue reading “Top 10 Holiday Safety Tips | Hays + Sons”

Change your Clocks, Change your Smoke Detector Batteries!

Posted on November 3, 2017

Daylight Savings time is here, whether we like it or not. Did you get all of your clocks changed? And more importantly, did you change all of your smoke detector batteries? It’s easy to let those kinds of tasks slide in the rush of raking leaves, cleaning up your garden beds, getting kids off to school every day and getting ready for the big holiday season to come. Continue reading “Change your Clocks, Change your Smoke Detector Batteries!”

Save Your Possessions: Create a Home Inventory List

Posted on October 12, 2017

After a disaster that has left you with damaged possessions, it can be extremely difficult to remember every detail about your belongings. Making a home inventory list can help you with any potential insurance claims. Documenting your belongings now can help you recover faster after a loss. Continue reading “Save Your Possessions: Create a Home Inventory List”

Saving Your Possessions from Disasters

Posted on September 29, 2017

Many people don’t stop and think about the possessions they want to protect from disasters. It is easy to think that disasters won’t happen to you and you don’t have to worry about protecting your valuable. It is important to know that disasters can happen to anyone at any moment. You can’t wait until a severe weather storm occurs to protect your home from damages. You need to take the time to protect possessions from potential disasters. Continue reading “Saving Your Possessions from Disasters”