The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
First Aid For The Ailing Houses
To minimize the effect of falling trees, all those about the windows should be carefully checked for ability to withstand a blow. Shallow-rooted trees should be securely wired to cement-embedded stakes. Trees, however, break the force of the wind, and a row of them at some distance from the house will change the direction or deflect the wind.
Rain is one of the biggest problems with windows. If the weather-stripping is not tight, the moisture will come in at the most accessible spots, such as around large, fixed panes and around sliding windows or casement types. Gaps, even small ones, around window and door frames will admit mois- ture. They should be thoroughly caulked.
A pane of glass is usually set in putty or a glazing compound. Be sure that the glazing material is not cracked and loose. Rain can be forced in or will run down into the channel and seep up into the room on the other side. Casement windows are often found leaking because they have been installed improperly. Good installation of any window requires a flashing of some type to prevent moisture from being forced in around the frame. On a casement window this flashing is an internal application of building paper, combined with an awninglike strip that overhangs the top of the window, and prevents dripping water from finding its way into the window vents.
With both doors and windows, the most important protection against the rain driven by the storm is weather-stripping (see section on Weather-stripping).
Fences that permit the passage of wind through the slats or the panels have a better chance of resisting a storm than those that present a flat and solid surface to the wind. Louvered or picket fences usually come through a storm in good condition.
Posts should be carefully checked for rot. It is quite common for wooden fence posts to be embedded in concrete and to collect moisture in the base, where it cannot get away. Eventually this moisture will rot out the wood and the post will break off at the surface of the ground. One solution is to put in posts that have been soaked in wood preservative for protection against moisture. Another is to be sure the top of the cement base is above the level of the surrounding earth and sloped away from the wood, so moisture will not seep in between the post and the cement.
Posts should be set deeply enough. A 6-foot fence usually requires about 21/2 to 3 feet of embedded post to withstand ordinary winds. Filled ground will not support posts. If the fill becomes soft and mushy from moisture, the posts, even with cement bases, will gradually loosen and lean over.
