Watch and Learn - What the Rain Can Teach You About Your Home

It's raining like crazy here in northern New Jersey (16 of the 22 days so far this month), and this morning I stopped and just stood in my upstairs hall window to watch the latest storm. But after a few minutes, I frowned as I noticed something...

The rain was pouring down hard and the storm water was flowing from the street, straight into and to the back of my driveway, and then blasting through a flower bed and beyond until a large pool formed at a low spot in the yard. In addition to the pool, I now also had dozens of little mulch chips strewn all over the place that marked the water's recent path like Hansel and Gretel breadcrumbs. 

The Tip
In that moment, I suddenly remembered a tip one of our inspectors had shared with me when I first started working for U.S. Inspect that would be great to share here in my blog. During a heavy rain, he had said, is actually the perfect time to observe your property's drainage and gutter function--and you can identify problem areas almost immediately.

If you've never done this type of "Watch and Learn" before, I highly recommend it. See my "Watch and Learn" Guide at the right, if you'd like to give it a try.

What I learned
While I frowned at the sight in my yard, I was able to immediately begin planning in my head how I would remedy the problem on the weekend. For the most part, the only real impact of my particular drainage issue was, at best, some unsightly wood-chip confetti in my lawn, and at worst, some slight flooding of nearby flowers. But it could have been much, much worse.

What is the Worst-Case Scenario exactly?
Well, water, if not properly controlled, can lead to water penetration and result in damage to a home's structure, interior surfaces, and your personal belongings as well.

But taking a few moments to Watch and Learn is a great way to see how your property "handles" water and identify issues now that could be much bigger headaches down the line if they are allowed to continue.

How To Watch and Learn
Use the quick guide above to do your own observation; and be sure to come back and share with us how it went!