Prevention & Maintenance
Winter Storm Prep Checklist for Orange County Homes (Do These Before the November Rains)
Six weeks of preparation, mostly free, that prevents the majority of what we get called out for between November and March.
The short answer
Clear gutters and roof valleys in October after the Santa Ana winds have dropped their litter, extend every downspout well away from the foundation, clear the silt out of area drains in November, and make the flood and sewer-backup insurance calls before the waiting periods make them useless.
Orange County's storm season is short, concentrated and predictable. That makes it unusually easy to prepare for, and the preparation is mostly free.
Work through this in October and November. Almost everything on it costs nothing but an afternoon.
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October: The Roof
Do this after the first Santa Ana events rather than before, because wind season loads your gutters and lifts your tiles between September and November.
- Walk the perimeter and look up. Displaced, slipped, cracked or missing tiles; lifted or curled shingle edges; ridge caps out of line.
- Check flashing at chimneys, skylights, vent stacks and roof-to-wall transitions. These are the most reliable leak points on any roof.
- Look for debris on the ground — tile fragments, shingle pieces, or granules collecting at downspout outlets.
- If the roof is over fifteen years old, or it is tile with original underlayment approaching 25 to 30 years, book an inspection. The underlayment is the actual waterproofing and it ages out long before the tile does.
- Have any repairs done in dry weather. Roofers are booked solid the week after the first storm.
October: Gutters And Downspouts
Clear gutters and roof valleys completely. Fullerton's mature eucalyptus, pine, sycamore and pepper trees are prolific, and the Santa Ana winds load the gutters for you.
Flush each downspout with a hose and confirm water actually exits at the bottom. A downspout that looks clear from above can be blocked at an elbow.
Check where the discharge goes. Water leaving a downspout at the base of a wall is the single most common non-plumbing cause of intrusion we attend. Extend it — a few dollars of downspout extension, aimed away from the foundation and any hardscape that would send it back.
Check gutter fixings. Wind-loosened gutters overflow at the joint, and always onto whatever is directly below.
November: Drainage And Grade
This is the half people skip, and it is where hillside and flat-lot homes actually fail.
Lift every area drain and yard drain grate. Remove the silt and debris underneath — there will be more than you expect — and pour a bucket of water in to confirm flow.
Walk the swale lines on a graded lot. Those shallow channels are engineered, and landscaping, raised beds and hardscape added over the years frequently bury or interrupt them.
Look at the grade against the house. Soil should fall away from the foundation. Years of mulch topping up beds reverses that quietly.
Clear window wells, light wells and stairwell drains.
On hillside properties, check subdrain outlets behind retaining walls and any terrace drains on the slope above the house.
November: The Insurance Half Hour
Three phone calls, and all three have to happen before the season rather than during it.
Look up your FEMA flood zone, then decide about flood coverage. Standard homeowners policies exclude flood entirely, and NFIP policies normally carry a 30-day waiting period — so a January decision is useless.
Add the water and sewer backup endorsement if you do not have it. Heavy rain raises groundwater and stresses sewer systems, and backups spike in storm weeks. It is a few dollars a month and is not part of a standard policy.
Ask about service line coverage while you are on the call — the buried water and sewer line from the street to your house is your responsibility.
Then photograph the exterior of your property in dry weather, from several angles, and keep the images dated. Documented pre-storm condition is genuinely useful if a claim later becomes contentious.
The Emergency Kit
Small, cheap, and worth assembling once so it exists when you need it.
- A meter key for the kerb-side water shut-off, kept somewhere obvious.
- A tarp and a roll of duct tape or roofing tape for emergency covering. Do not go on a wet roof — this is for a window or a ground-level opening.
- Buckets, old towels, and a squeegee.
- A torch with working batteries, kept where you can find it in the dark.
- Sandbags if you are near the creek corridor or in a low flat area. Many cities offer free or low-cost sand during storm season.
- Your restoration company's number, your carrier's claims line and your policy number saved in your phone, not in a drawer.
During The First Storm
Do one thing while it is actually raining hard: walk the property with an umbrella and watch where water goes.
You will learn more in five minutes than in any dry inspection. Which downspout is overwhelmed. Which area drain is not coping. Where water ponds against a wall. Which corner of the yard has become a river.
Then check inside: ceilings, the tops of walls, window and door perimeters, the garage. A leak that appears only during wind-driven rain from one direction is an envelope failure rather than a roof failure, and it will not reveal itself any other way.
Write down what you find. Fix it when the weather clears, while it is still cheap.
What This Costs, Start to Finish
The whole checklist is cheaper than most people assume, and the ordering matters — a couple of the highest-value items are free, and the most expensive item on the list is the one that most needs booking early.
Costs below are indicative for a typical Fullerton single-family home and vary with roof type, property size and access. Get quotes rather than relying on a range.
- Free: clearing your own gutters, clearing area drain grates, checking the grade around the foundation, and testing the sump pump if you have one.
- Under fifty dollars: downspout extensions, splash blocks, a fresh tube of exterior sealant for window and door perimeters.
- Modest: a roof inspection in October, which is the single highest-value paid item because it converts an emergency into a scheduled repair.
- Modest and recurring: professional gutter clearing if your roof is steep, tiled, or two storeys — worth paying rather than climbing.
- Variable: drainage correction, which is genuine construction work and the only large number here. It is also the one that permanently fixes a recurring problem.
- Insurance: the sewer backup endorsement is inexpensive; flood cover is a larger annual figure. Both need the call made in October because of waiting periods.
Frequently asked
October for the roof and gutters — after the first Santa Ana events have lifted tiles and dropped litter, so you are not doing it twice. November for drainage and the insurance calls. Everything wants to be complete before the first significant storm, which typically arrives in late November or December.
Downspout discharge. Roof water dumping at the base of a wall is the most common non-plumbing cause of intrusion we attend, and a downspout extension costs a few dollars. After that, clearing area drains.
Only if you are near the creek corridor, in a low flat area with dated street drainage, or below a slope. If a previous storm has ever brought water close to a threshold, yes. Many cities provide free or low-cost sand during the season.
The bottom line
Roof and gutters in October, drainage and insurance in November, then watch what happens during the first real storm.
Almost all of it is free, and it prevents most of what we get called out for between November and March.