Here's a full transcript of the episode.
Rob Carnie: Spring is just days away. And spring is the topic today with Greg Marcyniuk from Heritage Insurance. Time for a little spring cleaning, Greg.
Greg Marcyniuk: That's correct, Rob. Doing a little maintenance around your home actually is good for your insurance as well as good for the value of your home, and it really makes you just feel that much better about yourself and your home. So some of the tips that you should do is, you know, clean up your yard, keep the debris settled in your yard or that has, you know, been through there through the winter, trim your bushes around there to improve your visibility. And this will actually help you see what's going on in your yard. And it makes it harder for people to vandalize or break into your home. Wash your windows and check the seals. This is a great time to go out. Once it gets warm, clean your windows. Check and see if there's any cracks and seal them up. And actually, when you do that, it extends their lifespan and it improves your energy consumption, which in turn saves you money on your power bill.
Again, I just can't emphasize enough about keeping your eavestroughs and downspouts clean. And again, it's a good time to have them ready for the spring rainstorms. Clean out any buildup of debris there. And also you should make sure your downspouts are away from your foundation, so you don't have any water pool up there. And if they're beaten up with snow or from shoveling, now's a good time to actually get them replaced. The other thing you should be doing is checking your roof whether you can get up there yourself or have a professional go up top. And as well as the fascia in the structure. Take the time actually to go up into your attic if you can, and just check for any leakage up there. And also just fix or replace any shingles that may have curled or may have had some issues there, where they're blown away, so you don't have that issue when there's the good old thunderstorm, Saskatchewan thunderstorms coming through.
The other thing that you want to do is fill any cracks in your foundation because now's a good time to look around, fill the cracks, and that way, water's not going to leak in, and as well as there's not going to be any critters sneaking in there. Take care again of the clutter inside and out. It just is good to have an organized home both inside and out. Get rid of things you don't need and safely store the things you do like clear toys, electric cords, and any other items on your driveway or walkways that you've had over the winter for plugging in your vehicles because if someone slips on that while they're on your property, on a cord, you could be liable and end up having to pay for their medical bills or loss of income and maybe even more. So it also applies for clutter inside, not just outside. So again, good thing to do it inside and out.
Store valuables in containers. Like a lot of people will just throw their stuff down on the floor in a cardboard box. We recommend that you actually put them in a clear plastic container and have them up above where they can't get any water damage. It doesn't take that much time, saves you a ton of hassle and headache in the event that you either have a sewer backup, or either water comes in. The other thing is, this is a good time also to get a hold of your broker. Come in and talk to any of our fine people here at Heritage Insurance and just go over your coverage to make sure that you have important add-on such as sewer damage, service line coverage, or major appliance failure. So please feel free to give us a call to go over this.
Rob Carnie: Service line disruption insurance is real good. I know for a fact about that.
Greg Marcyniuk: Yes, you learned firsthand. So please come on down the corner of 1st and Fairford or check us out online at heritageinsurance.ca.
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