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If your home is not protected by impact-resistant windows and doors; or impact resistant shutters or panels; consider building your own temporary emergency panels. Step One: Plan the Project. Count and measure each window and door that has glass including French doors, sliding glass doors as well as skylights. You might also want to include roof and gable end vents or any opening that if damaged would allow wind to enter your home. Measure each opening horizontally inside the exterior trim and vertically from the sill to the bottom of the top trim. Add eight inches to both the height and width to provide a four-inch overlap on all sides. When measuring a window with an extended sill measure from the top of the sill to the top of the window and add four inches instead of eight. Sheets of plywood are generally 4 feet by 8 feet. This will help determine how many sheets to buy. Be sure to purchase plywood that is 5/8 inch or greater, exterior grade (CDX). Step Two: Assemble Your Tools and Hardware. You will need a circular saw, drill and drill bits, hammer and wrench, work gloves and safety goggles for this project. You will also need an assortment of hardware including bolts, wood or masonry anchors, nuts and large washers. A range of bolts may be used because different bolts will be needed for wood frame versus masonry homes. Wood Homes use lag screws and plastic coated permanent anchors Masonry Homes use expansion bolts and galvanized permanent expansion anchors Step Three: Get Started Having someone help you with this project will make things a lot easier. First drill holes in the same diameter as the bolts or screws, 2-inches in from the edges of the plywood at each corner and at 12-inch intervals around the panel. Next hold the plywood firmly in place over the opening to mark where to drill mounting holes. If the window sill is flush to the wall, secure the plywood on all four sides. If the window sill extends out at the bottom, secure the plywood on the top and sides. For windows 3 feet by 4 feet or smaller installed on a wood frame house, use 1/4-inch lag screws and plastic coated permanent anchors. The lag screws should penetrate the wall and frame surrounding the window at least 1 3/4 inches. For larger windows, use 3/8-inch lag screws that penetrate the wall and frame surrounding the window at least 2 1/2 inches. For windows 3 feet by 4 feet or smaller installed on a masonry house, use 1/4 inch expansion bolts and galvanized permanent expansion anchors. The expansion bolts should penetrate the wall at least 1 1/2 inches. For larger windows, use 3/8-inch expansion bolts that penetrate the wall at least 1 1/2 inches. If a window or door is larger than a sheet of plywood, you will need to join the panels with 2X4 bracing along the entire seam. Attach the 2X4s to the outside of the plywood panel with 10 gauge, 2 inch long galvanized screws (exterior deck screws) spaced every 4 inches. Use the widest side of the 2X4 to run the length of the entire seam. When youre done, mark each panel with the name of the opening so you will quickly know where to install it when a storm is approaching. Store the panels, washers and nuts together in a location away from the elements. Consider waterproofing the panels with paint or a sealant.

Here s another great tip from BobVila.com. While it s a job many of us would love to ignore, gutter cleaning is an important twice-a-year ritual all homeowners need to adopt. When clogged gutters overflow, they can cause ice dams on the roof that force water inside your house. They can also get so heavy that they ll pull the gutters loose and rot the trim and siding. Even if your gutter doesn t fill to overflowing each season, leaving any decaying debris in there is an invitation to carpenter ants and mosquitoes. If you have a lot of trees around your house, you might want to clean your gutters even more frequently. There are lots of ways to do the cleaning. You can find inventions like tongs on an extension pole, shop vacuums with gutter nozzles or even a remote-controlled gutter-running robot. But most methods eventually involve getting on a ladder. If you have gutters above the first story or aren t comfortable on a ladder, you re better off hiring a pro. To clean your gutters yourself, wear gloves, a dust mask and safety goggles. Make sure your ladder is well-footed at all times and use a ladder stabilizer, or stand-off, to keep from denting and damaging your gutters. Scoop the debris into a garbage bag with a garden trowel, then rinse toward the downspout with a high-pressure nozzle on your hose and scrub it clean. Try to avoid spattering the siding in the process. Next, clear the downspouts with a hose or auger. Installing leaf strainers at the drain tops will cut down on the large clogs. When it rains, check for leaks and mark them with a china marker so you can patch holes or correct pitch problems when it s dry. There s debate about whether gutter caps or screens are worth the investment of up to $7 a running foot. Because nothing keeps all debris out, you still have to have your gutter cleaned every couple of years at least, and screens and caps make it much more difficult and expensive to do it. Find out more at BobVila.com: the ultimate home improvement web site! 2008 BobVila.com

Here's another great tip from BobVila.com. You can get several years worth of grime off your deck and your home s exterior in an hour with a pressure washer. Whether you buy or rent, it s a great tool to have. But go easy. Pressure washing with more than 1,200 psi is useful for stripping loose and flaking paint, but it can easily damage your siding. For cleaning, volume is more important than pressure. When using a pressure washer, stand several feet from the house and work from the top down. Use a wide-angle spray nozzle and keep the spray at about 30 degrees from the surface to avoid leaving marks. Narrow nozzles and high pressure at a right angle to the surface will damage your siding and can hurt you, too. Always wear safety goggles and protective clothing when you re pressure washing. Unless it s specified by the decking or siding manufacturer, avoid using chlorine bleach, which can be harmful to wood surfaces. It ll turn cedar and redwood black, and your plants won t like it either. Instead, spray any mildewed areas with an oxygen-based bleach solution or other natural cleanser to loosen the grime before pressure washing. If all of this seems like a lot of work, your local pressure-washing service can clean and finish a standard deck for $200-$300 in a couple of hours. Find out more at BobVila.com: The ultimate home improvement web site! BobVila.com 2008